


Angels Exist. Literally.

by WhoknewZeus



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angels and whatnot, Anyways, Demons, Devil, Fallen Angels, Freeform, God - Freeform, I really need to work on my reasoning for certain things that occur in this, I really wanted to make a sad story for this pairing, I will try to update it as often as I can, It's sort of like fantasy, M/M, Romance, Satan - Freeform, Slow Build, Supernatural - Freeform, a little bit of real life, boys love to the end of time, but I thought that there should be something not so excessive, cash me outside if you wanna complain, changed summary, how bout dat, it might get smutty later on, oh well, or so i thought, or that stuff, plot getting wild, plot is abstract as hell, religion-themed to an extent, subtly dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-09-17 21:29:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 44,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9346817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhoknewZeus/pseuds/WhoknewZeus
Summary: Jooheon's life changed upon meeting a pesky, annoying, but unforgettable angel. Changkyun was the angel that made Jooheon questioning a lot of things--about himself, his direction in life, his choices for things, and his love life. Although, the world was not a polite place, and it would not be a shocker for him when it would send plenty of various problems down his way. He would have to solve everything to the best of his abilities, but he wondered if his life would ever return to normal quiet days?OrJooheon meets Angel-Changkyun. They get placed in different settings/problems and attempt to overcome it together.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I am Jookyun trash now. I've seen it a few times, but I was trying to avoid it because I was afraid to get stuck into another ship. Well, that didn't go well. I'm here writing this multi-chaptered story about them now. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys it and read well~

Jooheon was wandering through the night by himself, knowing completely well that the cops roaming the streets would grow suspicious of his behavior. However, it was not like he was trying to commit a real felony or anything, but he needed a real break from his home. Then again, his home life with his family was not awful either. It was under the pretense of an excuse that he simply wanted to escape the boring confinements of his home. If there was a thrilling event somewhere in the world, Jooheon was missing it out because his hometown was not providing the adventures that Jooheon sought. Living within the city grounds for the last twenty-two years really grew dull to the Korean male. 

 

Jooheon would like to say that there was nothing too exciting with his parents and brother that he would blame them for his undying boredom, but the real problem was actually himself. He appreciated everyone's existence around him, but the joy of seeing the same people for so many years was losing its meaning. Jooheon thought he was a terrible person for thinking that way.

 

Jooheon dyed his hair multiple times, thinking it would engage something out of everyone as shocking. Instead, everyone he met was pleasantly surprised with his hair and even complimented it. Perhaps the people were very open-minded to the new generation enough to simply accept anything. It was wonderful, but it was still not satisfying Jooheon. Maybe he was entering his rebellious stage after reaching adulthood. 

 

It was no fun, regardless. The swingset he used to play on was too small. The shop owners he grew with were getting older, and some were even closing down due to the growing economy. In honesty, Jooheon would like something spontaneous to happen to him and see if life in his hometown had any real meaning. At the very least, it would give a new perspective to the very streets he was walking upon. Which reminded him that he needed to cross the street safely and wander up the hill to get to his destination. He was going to hike the small mountain and merely enjoy the view. There was also a miniature temple at the top, so he could possibly pray for something  _ new  _ to happen to his hometown. Although, Jooheon was not seeing any real purpose behind praying, but he supposed it was always worth a try.

 

Luckily, it was not a long hike. It only took about twenty-or-so minutes due to Jooheon’s fast-pace. It was at least fulfilling to be faster up the mountain each time he traveled to it. “Aiii, it’s no fun being alone,” Jooheon openly uttered, letting the cool air slap his face a few times, acknowledging the fact that no one was around him when he got to the top. His parents did not even question where Jooheon wandered off to, for they wished him the best of fun out to wherever Jooheon wanted to be. At least they were very trusting of their son.

 

The plateau of the mountain had a nice view of the whole city that Jooheon felt entrapped in. He sighed aloud, absorbing the simplicity and beauty of the night view dazzled in thousands of flickering lights. It may have been time for Jooheon to move out of his hometown and do international exploring or something. Whatever could give Jooheon a sense of adventure again.

 

As the dark sky was filled with stars, Jooheon took note of a particular star falling. He knew the truth of stars being already dead rocks floating around space almost infinitely. However, a wishful thinking was not a bad thing for humankind, for it filled the creative minds of people and most importantly gave them hope for the future. Regardless of his cynical mindset, he figured he might as well close his eyes and make a tiny wish and put half his faith into it. It never harmed anyone to wish for something on a dead rock.

 

Not exactly telling his wish aloud in high hopes that it would come true, he opened his eyes and realized quickly that the said shooting star was seemingly getting closer every passing second. Jooheon had to rub his eyes for a moment to adjust his vision over the phenomena. As the bright star came closer and closer, Jooheon was starting to panic as the fact that it was coming in his direction was giving him mild anxiety. 

 

It still looked far away, but it had to be at least a kilometer away from him. Jooheon collected his thoughts and had to figure out where the damn thing would land in an awful crash. “I can’t believe this is happening,” Jooheon muttered, walking towards the temple behind him in an oddly fast pace. Taking shelter behind the closest pillar, he observed that the shooting star was indeed closing in.

 

It was not long before the star finally soared past through Jooheon’s view that he had to reevaluate his memory if it happened. It landed away from the temple without damaging anything, and it did not make an enormous sound when it crashed. It was like the sound of someone falling off the bed against a wood floor. Jooheon indiscriminately followed his curiosity and peeked over at the landed star. He was only hopign that it would not endanger his life by doing so.

 

The strangest thing about the star was that it was  _ not _ a star. Jooheon was sure that it something impossible and simply a moment of dementia, but it was not. There was an actual person standing naked a few feet away from the temple. Jooheon was analyzing if it was the first sign of aliens invading Earth, but the person had every feature of a human being. There was no possible explanation for that. 

 

Unsure of how to approach or if he should run away while he was still hidden behind the pillar. Considering that he really wanted to go home for once, Jooheon would rather take his chances and forget what he had seen. Before moving an inch away from the scene, the person spoke up, “Don’t move, human. That is if you don’t want to get  _ hurt _ .”

 

Jooheon froze in his spot and almost let out a defiled scream but held it behind his two strong jaws. In one blink, Jooheon could see the person that was supposed to be far away from him appear in front of him without a moment’s notice. “W-What,” Jooheon flinched and backed quietly into the pillar.

 

“You’re not bad looking,” the strange man commented, eyeing Jooheon up and down in pique, “I do like the way humans dress now than they did before.” He then bowed and magically made clothes in a similar style to Jooheon and decided to greet Jooheon once more. “Despite your physical structure, your personality seems to be mismatched with it.”

 

“Wha—Hey! Why you bad-mouthing me already? You don’t even know me like that,” Jooheon suddenly was offended by the words of the other male. 

 

“Jooheon, am I correct?” the strange male questioned, frankly freaking Jooheon out. “You may refer to me as Changkyun. I’m an angel of God.”

 

Jooheon never really paid attention to religion, but he was sure that angels would not literally fall out of the sky from the gates of heaven like that. “Why are you even on Earth? Why are you speaking fluently in the same language as me? And especially why am I speaking to the first ever magical being to touch this ground?”

 

Changkyun sighed and knew that the human he chose to hang around with was a troublesome one. “God has plans for you in particular. I’m here to ensure that plan goes through. We, as God’s messengers, can analyze a species and quickly communicate with them to bring them the word of God. You’re able to see and talk to me because I allow it and because, as stated earlier, God. Has. A. Plan. For. You.”

 

Jooheon was not believing anything he was hearing. Jooheon always saw life logically. There was no real thing as a God, or at least he believed that there was nothing of such universal power to be present in the realm of humans. It was not physically or scientifically proven by anyone yet.  Slowly bringing himself to the brink of insanity, Jooheon’s head was flooding with questions of what the other life was like for Changkyun. Then a new question came up that seemed harmless to ask, “Wait. Why is a mythical being’s name is Korean?”

 

“I have many names, but I make my mission easier if I can adjust my name favorably to the human I interact with,” Changkyun truthfully answered, giving Jooheon a soft and innocent smile with all of his white and literally shining teeth.

 

“Aish, I never thought I would meet someone whose teeth could shine like a flashlight,” Jooheon uttered, using his forearm to shade his eyes from the luminescent light until Changkyun dimmed the intensity of the shine. “Well, I know humans don’t naturally fall from the sky and remain unhurt from the landing. I also know that they can’t just do what you did with your teeth, so you’re technically the real deal.”

 

As Changkyun remained silent over the remark, Jooheon had no other relevant choice but to accept the reality that he made contact with an entity out of this world. It was surely unprecedented to Jooheon’s entire life, but the excitement it brought behind having Changkyun around was promising. Taking a moment to fully burn Changkyun’s body into Jooheon’s mind, he mesmerized the lightly tanned skinned that was flawless. God really made this particular angel attractive. Wait. Jooheon had to rephrase it and was satisfied with handsome instead. He was not going to be attracted to a mythical being. 

 

“You realize that your heart is really loud in speaking its true desires, right?” Changkyun admitted, smiling teasingly at the other male. “I can understand that you think I’m attract—”

 

“Ai, don’t think of that. I’m leaving and going home. You can stay out here in the cold and choke,” Jooheon rushed out of Changkyun’s way and was passing through the staircase in a hurried manner. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Changkyun’s two feet were on Jooheon’s shoulders. When Jooheon looked up, his face went sour when he realized that the angel was literally standing proudly over Jooheon.

 

Not moving an inch from his spot, Changkyun spoke audibly, “You know, this is my first visit to Earth. You’re also my first human. I’m new to this mission and have no real experience behind it, so I hope you and I can get along.”

 

Finding himself debating over beating up an angel, Jooheon irritatedly answered, “Get off my shoulders or else I will have a real reason to go to hell.”

 

“Okay, okay, okay,” Changkyun did a front flip and landed perfectly in front of Jooheon.

 

“Talk about being extra,” Jooheon whispered to himself, proceeding his way to his home with his family. After walking a few steps from Changkyun, Jooheon looked back and saw that the angel was still waiting at the same spot he did the front flip at. “So nobody can really see you without your permission, right?”

 

“Yes,” Changkyun brightly answered,  eyes stretching to the corners to appeal to Jooheon’s decision-making.

 

“Ugh, fine. Let’s go home together,” Jooheon could feel defeat weighing on his shoulders. Oh, hold up. His shoulders were actually getting heavier than before.

 

“Onwards to the home of Mr. Jooheon,” Changkyun announced as he was casually riding on top of Jooheon’s shoulders again. 

  
Something quite obnoxious had entered Jooheon’s life, and he was afraid that he was not going to be able to turn back time to not meeting Changkyun. It was almost like a prison to be stuck with the angel, but if it was really God’s own mission sent to be completed by these angels, then Jooheon supposed he was not too bothered by it. It was still too sudden, but perhaps he could adjust his pace in life as long as Changkyun made things easy for the both of them.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter! I thank everyone for deciding to read this or give it a chance. I really like the story's general plot that I'm working on, so I'm trying to put out chapters as soon as possible for everyone. Thank you for reading! Do as you please at the end! Leave any questions or comments if you desire to c:

A week with Changkyun being involved in Jooheon’s daily life made Jooheon realize a few things about the roaming angel. Jooheon made note that the angel was fond of sweet things despite not having to eat much or at all. The angel was really able to communicate with any species as Jooheon witnessed Changkyun have a dedicated conversation with a stray dog in the neighborhood. The angel was able to physically touch and mess around with things in the environment, so it was not like Changkyun was a ghost. Jooheon was testing to see the pain an angel could feel, so he casually pinched Changkyun’s love handles randomly one day, and the angel flinched and admonished the unholy conduct that Jooheon committed against ‘God’s Holy Angels’ and whatnot. At least Jooheon knew that angels could feel pain like anyone else.

 

There was no real information on what the ‘mission’ was for Changkyun, and Jooheon wanted to find out what it was each day he spent with the angel. Despite having answered the question, Jooheon was not satisfied by its ambiguity. “I told you before, the mission for me is to bring you closer to God,” Changkyun was casually laying in Jooheon’s bed, reading a magazine to stay updated on the personal affairs of celebrities. “I think I want to copy this style next, Jooheon. Whatcha think?”

 

Only glancing at the picture of a buffed Korean man wearing nothing underneath a leather jacket, Jooheon retorted, “Ah, no. You shouldn’t wear that type of stuff. You’ll look like a bad guy.”

 

“Ugh, no one can see me but you, anyway,” Changkyun mopped, dropping the magazine on his face and staring intimately into the picture with his eyes.

 

“So it’s really like that, huh?” Jooheon was sitting on his desk chair, attempting to search into ‘angels’ on Google. “You just want me to bring my faith closer to this God?”

 

“Basically.”

 

“Okay, I believe in God and totally want to put my faith in him or her or whatever,” Jooheon nonchalantly confessed, throwing his hands in the air as he spun around in his chair. 

 

“Lie.”

 

Jooheon could feel an arrow striking at his ego after Changkyun mentioned it. Another angel thing that Jooheon picked up quickly was that it was almost impossible to lie in front of Changkyun. Something about being able to read hearts or something. If angels were able to detect lies like that, they would be the best detectives in the world. Jooheon was not particularly interested in it because there was nothing secretive that could be hidden from the angel. The only thing he wanted to keep a scret was the small bag of sweets under his bed that he wanted to keep safe from Changkyun's greedy hands. The angel's appetite was oddly insatiable. 

 

Jooheon’s only day-off from work was spent being stuck at home with Changkyun. Due to Jooheon’s poor capacity of memory storage, he had to buy a notebook specifically for notes based on Changkyun. He was a little cheesy with the title, but he knew that it was straight to the point. He proudly labeled it as ‘Angel Notes’.

 

Not necessarily having completed a page of Angel Notes, Jooheon did manage to get basic information on Changkyun. It was not weird to keep track on what angels were like to Jooheon. In some awkward way, Jooheon was a scientist trying to observe a new specimen for the first time. He needed to know the full potential the being possessed. It was not weird at all. Or at least he hoped it was not. On the bright side, it should be able to make the distance between Jooheon and Changkyun closer, but it seemed like they were already getting along properly since Jooheon simply had to buy candy for Changkyun whenever he needed it. In exchange for the human's obligation, Changkyun would provide company for Jooheon, but Jooheon found that to be total bullshit.

 

“Say,” Jooheon’s voice echoed through his room as if it were completely emptied and the only thing occupying space was him and Changkyun. “What’s God like?”

 

Changkyun pondered over the question as to what was exactly the  _ right  _ answer. Only taking a second or two to collect the corresponding information, Changkyun articulated, “God is not a person and does not have a gender. However, God can take any form it pleases depending on who talks to it. When I met God, there was a blinding white light before a giant ice cream cone appeared and began talking to me in a sweet voice. That was who God was to me.”

 

Speechless of what Jooheon heard, he did not notice the moment his pencil was on the floor and rolled underneath the desk. If Changkyun stopped talking at the moment of the personal experience, Jooheon would have been fine with that answer alone. In other news, it was nice to note that the sweet tooth that the angel held was held to the same height as God. Whether Jooheon wanted to classify it as idiotic or cute was beyond comprehension. If dealing with angels were this unpleasant, Jooheon would not want to meet another one in his lifetime. Sighing aloud, he knew exactly the next set of words that would come out of Changkyun’s mouth.

 

“I can read your heart still, y’know?”

 

“Shut up, please,” Jooheon sighed again, picking up his fallen pencil. “I didn’t think angels were capable of being dumbasses.”

 

“Hey! I will have you know that I am not this dumb ass, you speak of, but I am a  _ smart _ ass,” Changkyun pouted, sitting upright on the bed. 

 

“I need to teach you slang if you want to ever talk to me again,” Jooheon sighed once more, knowing that there was a saying for every sigh was equal to losing to one moment of happiness. At this point in his life, he was beginning to be skeptical of everything because angels existence was verified to him. In other words, there was a chance to meet a vampire or that there was a living werewolf. Mythical creatures were hiding in this world somewhere.

 

* * *

 

On his walk to work, Jooheon told Changkyun that he was the cashier at the convenient store that was nearby the apartment complex where his family and himself lived. Although the angel was already aware of what Jooheon did for a living. It made it easy to commute to work since he only needed to walk over to it in fifteen minutes or less. Jooheon was seriously living a simple life for the longest time, but he could remember cherishing every moment of each adventure he had. The sand crunching on between his toes over a summer's blazing sun as the water crashed along the shore. Jooheon subconsciously curled his toes to the memory and snapped back to reality as a woman collided with him on his walk to work. The two apologized and went their own separate ways. Jooheon was slowly detaching himself from reality again before another unwanted voice permeated the distraction.

 

“I would hate to break it to you, Jooheon,” Changkyun was speaking as he was accompanying Jooheon on his walk to work, “but you should really not lie when you say you are  _ only  _ going to the bathroom to pee.”

 

Jooheon’s ears shot up and quickly turned as red as a tomato. It was not necessary for a holy entity to be implying such vulgar actions that humans can do. It was interesting to also note that he never hit Changkyun for anything he had said so far, and it was really tempting to break that conduct. “For an angel, you really have no zipper on that loose mouth of yours,” Jooheon angrily muttered.

 

“Lemme help you with that,” Changkyun mentioned, creating a zipper-like mouth to appear on his face without a problem. He showed it to Jooheon and enjoyed the creeped out reaction that Jooheon expressed. It was a pleasure to see the Korean male to be embarrassed heavily in public as the people that Jooheon did not remember were around him looked at him with confusion. 

 

“Sheesh,” Jooheon whispered, attempting to ignore the holy entity next to him. He was not going to be bothered by some an obnoxious fellow any longer, so he picked up his pace in an angered manner. A week was all he needed to be adjusted to these shenanigans, but it did not seem like Changkyun ever had an empty hand to play with.

 

After work was over, Jooheon was buying some of the store’s candy since Changkyun was tempted to simply ‘borrow’ the candy for the time being. He was in disbelief over the fact that he spent a third of his last paycheck on sweets alone. If the angel had necessities, he should get his own damn job to pay for that shit.

 

“Someone’s angry,” Changkyun was happily skipping ahead as he was devouring his Sour Patch Kids. 

 

Jooheon was tempted to sigh aloud, but he held it back and breathed in a cool air of the night. “I just think it’s funny how you think it’s cheap buying the outrageous amount of sweets you crave.”

 

“Is it not cheap? Is it burdening you that much that you have to buy it for me? I mean I could have just borrowed it like I said, but you did stop me before I could do any of that,” Changkyun easily persuaded Jooheon to take back his words, knowing how frail humans were to  _ guilt _ . Something sweeter than the candy that Changkyun was eating was entering his bloodstream, and it was truly a divine flavor to taste. Looking back at Jooheon with clouded and darkened eyes, Changkyun stated with an odd aura, “Hey, you were feeling bad just now, huh?”

 

“Oh, shut up with that, you got your candy. Psft, I didn’t even get something for myself while I was at it,” Jooheon was walking slowly behind with his head facing down at the cement. Nibbling his bottom lip, Jooheon's eyes wandered as it was chasing pavements. Unexpectedly, Changkyun shoved a piece from his Sour Patch bag into Jooheon’s mouth and smiled nicely.

 

“Better? Let’s share this together then. You did buy it with your hard-earned cash,” Changkyun cutely responded for his actions, holding onto Jooheon’s left hand and dragging the male back home.

 

It was not like Jooheon minded that much buying something for Changkyun. Overall, he supposed he should not spoil the mood and chewed rapidly at the candy in his mouth. He smiled genuinely after a long time of losing the meaning behind it. The missing light that Jooheon had for his hometown was beginning to shine once more. Whether it was because there was a literal angel guiding him home or that he was making a potentially wonderful friend that could make trips to places more pleasant. The running footsteps as their shoes pattered the ground, cats glaring nearby as they passed through, the pure black sky sprinkled with sparkles along the canvas. If other people saw Jooheon, they would assume tha the was an idiot and was crazy to run through the normal streets as he was, but he was not minding the sheer thought of being stupid once in a while.

 

* * *

 

  
  


Jooheon was surprised to see that Changkyun was not in his room one day, and he took note of it immediately to be further investigated. Saying his own notes aloud, “Changkyun is not tied down to me in any way. Proof: he is able to roam freely without my notice. Ironically, he has the ability to be mean, though.”

 

It was odd. The silence that normally filled his room was actually lonesome. It was not like it was not before, but it was surely different not having a conversation with Changkyun around. There was no plausible explanation for what Jooheon was feeling towards the angel because Jooheon was not totally missing the angel’s presence, but he would have liked to have some company before getting ready to go to work. Why was Jooheon getting adjusted to having Changkyun around? It was not like Changkyun was doing anything besides laze around on his bed. Ignoring the missing angel, Jooheon proceeded to go to the bathroom to take a shower and would go along with his day as usual. It was always like this for him, anyway. The same brushing technique for his teeth, the same mouthwash he used to purify his breath, and the same hair products that he would put in his hair to comb through beautifully. It was mundane, but it was Jooheon's life.

 

Put on a smile in front of the mirror; checked for any gunk left on the teeth; focused on a long day ahead of Jooheon. Out the door he went, and the very first thing he was greeted by was the blazing sun as it blinded him perfectly momentarily. After adjusting his vision, Jooheon walked down his street to get to work. The weather app predicted of a chilly weather outside, so Jooheon was prepared to have his coat and jacket layered nicely. “To work we go!” Changkyun stood confidently and announced loudly as his toes gripped tightly at Jooheon’s shoulders.

 

Scaring the young man, Jooheon shouted due to the shock and fell over as Changkyun made a flip and landed safely. “I’m really getting tempted to hit you,” Jooheon duly stated, patting away dust from his clothes and grasping his chest to get a better course of breath. 

 

“Truth,” Changkyun stated, bluntly reading Jooheon’s heart in public again and offering his hand to Jooheon while covering the sun from the human’s eyes.

 

Contemplating if it was going to be a trick, Jooheon took the hand and was surprised that Changkyun really pulled him back on his feet. “Th-Thank you.”

 

“I know that you like to write facts about me in that journal thing, so here’s another one for you to remember later on,” Changkyun casually stated, walking along side with Jooheon. “I wasn’t born very long ago. You see, time and space isn’t exactly normal as it is in this realm than it is in heaven. Now that I can technically recall, I’m actually younger than you.”

 

Jooheon almost tripped over gravity as he heard the information dangle upon his ears. “Wh-What!? No fucking way.”

 

“What vulgar language,” Changkyun renounced, but he maintained his posture and continued, “Yes. Technically, I’m supposed to be nineteen in this world. I simply did the math.”

 

Jooheon was considering of skipping his shift to writing all the things he heard from Changkyun, but he was not going to risk losing money off his paycheck. He was planning on spending it to go on a trip in the world eventually. Expecting Changkyun to remark on reading his ‘heart’, Jooheon walked carefully but paid attention to Changkyun’s facial features for a reaction. 

 

For an odd reason, Changkyun was not giving Jooheon shit about what his heart was truly desiring or feeling or whatever. It was a little freaky because it was rare for Changkyun to not take any opportunity to embarrass Jooheon in public. Feeling the need to interrogate, Jooheon hesitated to ask, “Ch-Changkyun?”

 

“Hm?” Hummed the angel, directing his attention wholesomely at Jooheon.

 

“Where were you today?”

 

“I was only out for a bit, checking the town out and whatnot,” Changkyun was definitively giving Jooheon sass, but it was not like the human could do anything in his power to stop the angel from saying what he wanted to say.

 

“Oh well, I’m just glad I have somebody to walk to work with,” Jooheon chuckled softly, letting his dimple show to the angel carelessly.

 

“Wow, how cute!” Changkyun was shocked over the sudden discovery. “You’re so, what’s the word here? Surprising. I love humans so much.”

 

Jooheon took the most sincere compliment that came out of Changkyun’s mouth and locked it up in his heart to choke Changkyun when he wanted to read his heart again. Maybe it was a pretense, though. He really just wanted to hold it dear to himself, but he would not admit it openly to the angel. Upon entering the convenient store, Jooheon and Changkyun made the same comment. “Hello! Let’s get to work.”

 

* * *

  
  


Jooheon walked out from his shift and gave his farewells to the manager and the other employee. He calmly welcomed the night air once more against his fragile skin. It was soothing to breathe a new air that was cool and not lukewarm. Changkyun came out after with a small grin as he shivered to the sudden change in temperature. Jooheon was sure that the angel would be able to resist the cold, but the human did not have to be correct on everything he assumed. The all too familiar pavements that led to home was starting to look anew. Changkyun’s stepping lightly behind him. A whistle from the wind as a sign of something on the streets ahead. Hands buried deep into his warm pockets, Jooheon pondered to the idea of what to eat at home that would fill him and Changkyun nicely. “Anything you’re craving, Changkyun?” Jooheon asked without looking back at the other male.

 

“If I told you, would you really make it?” Changkyun sassed again. Jooheon’s mood was dying out, for it was because the angel’s attitude was starting to escalate to heights that would be beyond help.

 

“Just make sure it’s something I can afford with the money I currently have,” Jooheon lamented, knowing that if Changkyun decided to provide some sort of financial assistance that it would make their suddenly shared life easier.

 

“Maybe I want  _ something _ , but it’s totally free. Money-wise. However,” Changkyun was trailing slower behind Jooheon as the angel’s eyes lost its normal coloring to a pure blackness, mouthing the last words with no voice, “I  _ want  _ you.”

 

Jooheon was not certain that he heard something from Changkyun, so he was about to turn around when the first thing he could see was Changkyun’s shadow stretching on the wall. Wings flapped open and gave Jooheon a shock, so he immediately leered at the angel to see what was going on. However, much to his amazement, Changkyun was standing still as harmless as ever as he looked confused over the human’s reaction.

 

“Nothing,” Jooheon mentioned, observing that he was sure he saw angelic wings sprout from the shadow of his angel friend. Maybe he was working himself too hard and needed a desperate break. “I’ll make us a hot pot today.”

  
“That sounds very delicious right now!” Changkyun gleefully cheered, rushing to the left side of Jooheon and cuddling up to him casually.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suppose it's been a while since the last update, but I mean, I'm not trying to prcrastinate too much on it. I just got caught up w/ reality and whatnot. College wants to come back and I'm feeling burnt out tbh. I just don't feel like it's about me going to school anymore, and I feel like it should be my motivation to do this, do school, go through education and higher learning for myself and not for the sake of others to progress in life. I'm considering on taking a semester off to recollect myself and motivation. I've been under so much pressure by myself, and I hope everyone understands. I'm honestly rambling but it helps me get my thoughts out there. I love everyone of you guys, and you are all valid with your life and grace. Live amazingly~
> 
> I'll try to update here and there. This story did suddenly have a giant plot out of nowhere.

It was another day-off for Jooheon as he was trying to take a nap on his bed. Changkyun was reading through the Angel Notes to verify the information that was written down. Was the space between the both of always non-existent? Jooheon wanted to know why it seemed like they were achieving proximity despite not knowing too much of each other. Perhaps the difference was why Jooheon created that notebook of Changkyun to further his understanding of the divine creature. Although, understanding one another would only establish so much…

 

“Hey, hey,” Changkyun uttered, floating around the room with Jooheon’s notebook in his hands. “You want me to answer this question about the extent of my powers?”

 

Immediately sitting up from his bed, Jooheon gave a dumbfounded expression to Changkyun before the human’s jaw dropped as the stupidity of the question was baffling. Of course he wanted to know! If there was something more interesting than learning an angel’s powers, then Jooheon would like to see it in front of his face as soon as possible. “Go, go, go! Tell me about it,” Jooheon excitedly jumped on his bed, staring at Changkyun with stars in his eyes.

 

“Okay,” Changkyun shrugged, seeing that it was not completely harmful to show the human the extent of an angel’s powers. There was always better angels in heaven than Changkyun, but he figured that Jooheon would not need to know that. As long as Jooheon stared at Changkyun as if he was the best magician in the world, then Changkyun was fine with the way they were settled. “Throw me something. Just make sure it’s something you don’t cherish it too much.”

 

“Okay,” Jooheon nodded, looking underneath his bed and finding a pencil that he figured was a small sacrifice for something amazing. He tossed the object to Changkyun and remained in his seat on his bed. The human carefully examined the actions of the angel, and he was deeply entwined with his curiosity that he was not aware of the knock on his door.

 

“Joo, your papa and I are going out, watch the house, ah?” Jooheon’s mother announced through the door, scaring the living crap out of Jooheon.

 

“Yes! I will! Take care and safe, mama!” Jooheon remarked loudly to be heard by his mother.

 

Both Changkyun and Jooheon stood still, quietly listening to the footsteps of Jooheon’s parents outside of the door. A few minutes past before they both heard a distinct sound of the front door being shut and locked. Changkyun was the first to move as he began covering the pencil that Jooheon tossed with both hands. He squash the item and revealed to Jooheon that nothing was left. “Don’t assume that the item is gone. It’s sort of just in storage right now,” Changkyun vaguely explained.

 

Unfazed completely, Jooheon shouted a question, “What!? What was the purpose of giving you an item that I didn’t cherish then? I could just give you anything and you’ll just return it, anyways. What a troublesome fellow you are.”

 

“I mean, I don’t want you to feel heartbroken when you lose something momentarily,” Changkyun gave puppy eyes to the human, even overlapping his bottom lip over his top lip to add dramatic effect.

 

“You—Ai, I really dislike that part of you. So annoying,” Jooheon was scratching roughly the back of his head as he fell back into his pillow and attempted to go to sleep.

 

“I also carry one of these around if this makes you feel better,” Changkyun mentioned, pulling out a sword that was burning with a fire that was as bright as light. Jooheon looked up and was taken aback at how luminous it was.

 

“Damn, put it away, I can’t see!” Jooheon complained, forcing to use his arm as a shield from the light.

 

Doing as he was told, Changkyun put the holy weapon back into the interdimensional storage space that he was given as an angel. Although, it was not like it was the _only_ weapon that Changkyun was keeping to himself. He was glad that Jooheon was not an angel, or it would be troublesome for the holy entity to deal with. Then again, time was beginning to fall through the hourglass, for it would be soon enough for something unpleasant to come to town. Sugarcoating that from the human would only spell betrayal in their burrowing relationship.

 

Jooheon could see the disdain on Changkyun’s face growing, so he had no choice but to wonder about it. “You okay? I, well, thank you for showing me that. It seriously cool. It was just a little too bright for me.”

 

“Oh, me?” Changkyun was pulled back from his head, not knowing where the conversation went as he was missing from reality. He reanalyzed what the human said and replied appropriately. “Oh, that. Yeah, no problem! I feel the same about it being too bright.”

 

Jooheon nodded to agree, feeling the need to change the topic since the matter was getting old and reaching its end. “Your speech is getting better. You also understand slang but won’t use it, so I guess it’s still good progress.”

 

“Mm,” hummed the angel, but he was clearly acting differently than he normally would. It was apparent to Jooheon because the vibe coming from Changkyun was progressively changing to something he cannot explain. A wavelength that did not collide smoothly with Jooheon, trying to align itself despite being mismatched.

 

Changkyun smiled and conversed as usual with Jooheon until the human succumbed to his wariness. It would be rude of him to watch the slumbering man until he woke up again, so Changkyun took a small breath and gave a peace sign to Jooheon before teleporting to a new location to attend other matters. He materialized in a middle of a mountain without any vital signs of any humans being in the area. The angel sat down on the earthy patch and waited for something to happen. After yawning for a few times, Changkyun was tempted to sleep where he was because the designed VIP he was supposed to meet was taking forever.

 

A portal opened, tearing a rift in reality before _something_ came forward in front of Changkyun. It was a supremely towering, casting down a disappointed face to the angel. As torched red as it could be, Changkyun could feel the fire’s heat coming from the skin. The being shrunk and took a lighter form to reduce being ostentatious in its environment. The fiery horns on its head reduced until nothing, and gray dead hair bloomed out of the scalp. The pigmentation transformed into the lightest peach skin that Changkyun had ever seen. Wrinkles began forming everywhere and clothes manifested itself on the entity. “Hello, my darling,” an elderly woman’s voice greeted.

 

“First I see God as an ice cream cone, and now the Devil wants to play an old granny,” Changkyun sighed, not entirely fazed by meeting one of Hell’s most recognizable figures. “For supreme beings, you guys don’t take the job seriously enough.”

 

“Today, I want to be an old lady. How I look on the outside doesn’t affect how I am in the inside,” the Devil spoke, eyes as black as the center of the eclipse. Easily shifting the environment to the Devil’s throne in Hell, the disturbed granny walked excruciatingly slow to the throne as a senior citizen would act. “Have you been doing your job properly? You do know what _fallen_ angels are supposed to do in this realm?”

 

Feeling obligated to help his boss, Changkyun locked his arm with the quaint woman, ensuring that she would not fall over. The humidity was dense despite having no flames. Hell was not a place that Changkyun ultimately feared, for he had been here enough times to get adjusted to the frightening surroundings. Answering Satan’s question, “I guess you can say it’s going well. The person I’m assigned to is a nice woman. I’ll make her lose her faith in God and then impregnate her and blah, blah, blah.”

 

“Sigh,” Satan sighed, clearly not in touch of how to use the word properly.

 

“I-I think you’re—never mind. You’re doing great, boss,” Changkyun was ready to intervene, but he gave a thumbs up and allowed the supposed elderly lady to talk. A supreme being was _still_ a supreme being. Messing up or acting out of accordance in front of one will lead to dramatic consequences. Sadly, Changkyun already committed one against God, so he was already being punished by being stuck with the Devil.

 

“Why must I have such deceitful servants?” The senior citizen weeped with her frail and worn out voice. She covered her face with both hands before a black ooze was seeping through the interspaces of the fingers. “I _love_ it.”

 

“You’re back in your own realm, you know?” Changkyun confessed. “You don’t have to play in that sheep’s skin anymore. Be free and gigantic with horns or something.”

 

“I’ve already committed in this form long enough, so why not keep the gag running?” Satan simply retorted, shrugging her shoulders.

 

“What pronouns do I even use when you pull stunts like this?” Changkyun was honestly asking a real question.

 

Satan created a steel walker and began using it to get around the spacious room. She left Changkyun’s arm and began traveling on her own, letting Changkyun to stay still. “For now, use whatever pronouns my form takes, or I’ll just let you know because you’re an idiot.”  


Changkyun had no choice but to nod at the simple answer. He patiently waited in the same spot he was before Satan left him. It was an odd thing to not feel the pressuring presence of a supreme being, but it was not something to take too lightly, which was a fatal mistake that Changkyun made. Granny Devil waved her frail fingers and suddenly teleported Jooheon’s entire bed in front of her. Upon seeing the human, Changkyun’s eyes almost lifted across his scalp.

 

Laughing maniacally to Changkyun’s surprise, Grandma Devil rubbed Jooheon’s hair normally before  turning to face Changkyun. “So who is this wonderfully cute human male? Jooheon, correct?”

 

Although worry was not an emotion that Changkyun was familiar with, he was sure as the dimple on Jooheon’s cheeks that he was going to explode in an unwanted fit that Changkyun had never felt before. It was enough to make a being of higher power turn into a pubescent child panicking. Immediately dropping to his knees, Changkyun muttered, “Please… not in front of him.”

 

“Very well,”  the supreme being articulated, teleporting Jooheon back to his room as if it was nothing to the being. “Let’s clarify your mission, shall we?” Taking the fact that Changkyun did not speak back was a sure answer. The clock never did stop ticking for fate.

 

* * *

 

“Wake up, Jooheon. Help me, Jooheon!” Changkyun was yelling, but the environment was darkened. There was no light anywhere, but the voice was audibly close. Jooheon woke up to see that he was in his room and never went anywhere. The quick dream was odd, but it felt like there was something missing, and he looked around to notice that Changkyun was missing again. Maybe the fellow was bored and went to do something? Regardless of what the angel was up to, Jooheon supposed he was not obligated to know every whereabout of Changkyun. It would be too oppressive even if the being was purposely more powerful. Jooheon would never allow such tactics to be implemented by him to others.

 

Having some of the day leftover from the small nap, Jooheon stretched properly, letting out a giant groan, before heading out into the kitchen to fix something to eat for himself. He was boiling water in a tea kettle to prepare with his ramen. “I don’t miss him. I don’t miss Changkyun,” Jooheon was telling himself, knowing that it was a pathetic and contradicting thing to say. He did not care, though. Carelessly letting the steam exiting the kettle to scream, he almost forgot that he was boiling something. If Changkyun was there somewhere in the world, he should have at least brought Jooheon along. It would have been nice to experience it together.

 

Hot water poured smoothly and clearly into the cup of noodles, softening the hardened wheat. The moisture evaporated into steam, smoking past the rim. The refrigerator crackled randomly but did not affect the human’s disdain. The faucet leaked a drop at a time for every five minutes, but its sound would never be heard by Jooheon. Seeing that his noodles gotten to the point of being edible, he picked it up with his chopsticks and slurped it carefully. His tongue burnt around the tip, but he was okay with the outcome. It did not bother his mind as much as the missing angel. Loneliness creeping into his bloodstream, he was contemplating on how to occupy his mind with something else.

 

Silence was singing around the room, but there was no one in the audience that would criticize its terrible presence. “I’m pathetic,” Jooheon muttered subconsciously, inhaling the rest of his semi-warm noodles. He twirled his chopsticks in the soup, reflecting at himself on its surface. Why was he attaching himself to something troublesome as Changkyun? That no-good-angel did nothing worth praising, so there was nothing to really _miss_ about him. Yet, there was this facet to Jooheon that he was unable to connect with entirely. It was like pouring himself a bowl of cereal without checking if there was milk in the fridge that was okay to use.

 

Suffocating the inside of his home, Jooheon dressed appropriately for going outside to walk and get fresh air. Slipping on his shoes, he escaped the confinements and locked the door to head out. An air as cold as Changkyun’s favorite ice cream cone was roaming through the streets lost. Jooheon shook the unpleasant vibe out of his systems and cuddled with himself to stay warm. Wandering the gray road, he was aimlessly walking until his energy was low enough to go back to sleep. Someone smacked heavily into him that he was tempted to curse out the fellow. Holding his wrath, he softly spoke, “Watch where you are going, please.”

 

A male with a babyface and short wood-brown hair apologized, but the cold and black eyes as if it were a predator looking at its next victim gave Jooheon the shiver of fear. “I’ll make sure to look where I’m going. How about I treat you to something warm to eat?”

 

Seeing that Jooheon had nothing to do, he was tempted to say yes. However, he declined for the reasoning that it was too awkward and suspicious for strangers to go out like that. “I’m okay,” Jooheon uttered, proceeding to walk in the opposite direction from the man. He had his own business to mind, and it was not in his interest to entertain anybody that was not relevant to him.

 

“First contact,” the rather tall stranger whispered to himself, happily content with the outcome of his meeting with Jooheon. A trail of black feathers softly landed as the man walked for a short while before entering an empty alleyway. Near the end where a brick wall made it impossible to advance further, he approached a man that had their legs spread out as they were sitting against the wall. “I met Jooheon today, Changkyun.”

 

Sporadically having muscle spasms, Changkyun was breathing irregularly as he was blinking between unconsciousness. “Don’t touch him,” he growled, barely having the strength to resist. There was a real threat of the other fallen angel since that guy possessed a strength that was stronger than Changkyun’s. It was not going to be a favorable battle no matter how many times Changkyun would like to try.

 

“Ah, okay, okay,” the man was ruffling through Changkyun’s hair without considering that his hand or arm might be sliced off by the deathly stare that the beaten down male was giving. “I, _Shownu_ , will not do anything bad nor good to Jooheon as long as it is not necessary to do so. My real task is to keep you in check, anyway.”

 

“Don’t use my name so casually without knowing me, you bastard,” Jooheon replied from behind Shownu, surprising him and especially Changkyun. With Jooheon’s furrowed eyebrows and tightened fists, he was not liking the scenery with the way the defeated Changkyun looked. It was obvious that there was no way that Shownu was an ordinary human because Changkyun was past the capabilities of mankind. The same level of strength or higher with the angel would be the only reasonable answer to why he was looking exhausted. It was good thing that Jooheon followed Shownu after feeling suspicious of the male along with the trail of black feathers that Shownu left.

 

“Oh, how awkward things have gotten,” Shownu nonchalantly commented, shrugging his shoulders and flapping his hands as if it were not his concern. Changkyun glared at the fallen angel at every chance he could get, but Shownu would see that the soft and yearning expression that Changkyun would show to Jooheon was something worth torturing. “I wonder if he knows that we aren’t really angels anymore,” Shownu glanced down upon Changkyun, letting the lower being know the threatening words.

 

“Give me Changkyun or else I will,” Jooheon was uttering anger-filled words, but he stammered over what to actually scare the other entity. There had to something that fallen angels were afraid of, and it cannot only be the boss Satan itself. Jooheon would not result to that extreme, but then again, he did not even only how to summon or call that powerful figure. However, there was something else in mind that Jooheon had hoped with all his will that the sheer craziness of it could work. “I’ll pray to God for help!”

 

Shownu went silent for a moment, breathing calmly before deciding to chuckle at the reply. “You really think I’m afraid of that?” Shownu had to give Jooheon a round of applause of using his little brain to think of that vain plan. It was utterly stupid as a fish trying to climb a tree.

 

Jooheon pouted before clasping his hands together and began praying for his life. He silently hoped for God to answer his call and give her the miracle he needed to help Changkyun. All he wanted was to have his new friend back safely by his side.

 

Shownu was not going to wait around and let something happen, so he already began walking towards Jooheon until something dropped from the sky and landed behind Jooheon. Shownu peered curiously as he was sure that another angel appeared in the midst of their meeting. Although, the angel peacefully glanced at Shownu with their warm and loving eyes. There was a bad vibe coming from this person, and there was no escaping the fate that Shownu was about to collide with. “Oh sweet Lucifer,” Shownu groaned as he recognized the face of the angel.

 

“Shownu! Ah, it’s really you! I’m so glad we got to meet again. It’s been far too long since you left Heaven. I’ve missed you so much,” the angel rambled far too fast for Jooheon to comprehend what happened in the few seconds that he prayed for a miracle. The mysterious and kind angel past Jooheon and began hugging Shownu indiscriminately. “You know, I think even though you’re bad, you’re still good too.”

 

“Minhyuk. Minhyuk. Minhyuk, please, let me go. I’m trying to stick to my task,” Shownu was unable to struggle underneath Minhyuk’s thin arms. It was very easy to, but it was not easy against the person that he had known for most of his life as an ordinary angel.

 

Minhyuk was shaking Shownu side to side as he suddenly remembered that he was assigned a task as well. “Oh, me too! I’m trying to get you off this fellow’s back. It’s not nice to bully people, Shownu. Have some common sense nowadays.”

 

The malicious intent that Changkyun was feeling before within Shownu was slowly dissipating. The other _actual_ angel was doing something to eliminate the aura from Shownu, and it was real wonder as to why it was happening. Regardless, he took the opportunity to heal the injuries on his body faster to be able to reunite with Jooheon. Although, the Minhyuk guy had to be someone fearsome despite expressing himself as an innocent angel for Shownu to cower a little. Changkyun had to smile the moment he saw Jooheon creep around the two weirdos reminiscing over their time in Heaven together. “You don’t look good even though I didn’t leave that long.”

 

“What? You thought I would miss your presence?” Jooheon taunted, making every pronunciation as obvious as possible. “I was happy without you around. I think I was getting my old life back together.”

 

“Suure,” Changkyun smirked at the comment, standing up without a sign of struggle.

 

“You’re all better all of a sudden?” Jooheon seemed genuinely confused. Changkyun opened his mouth to explain, but he shut it again and decided that it was always better for idiots to observe things before saying anything about something. “Wow, I shouldn’t even feel bad about hurting you for now on!”

 

Changkyun froze for a moment and realized that Jooheon was holding back his frustrations this entire time, and Changkyun was only making it worse by continuingly pushing the human to the edge of desire and wrath. Changkyun thought that it was part of human customs to worship higher beings and not bother them in any way, but the thought now needed to be revised. Hurriedly, Changkyun arched his back and began groaning, “Wait, wait, wait, let’s talk about this. I’m actually still hurt. See? Ow, oh, aah.”

 

“Lie,” Shownu and Minhyuk simultaneously remarked, not troubling themselves to even face Changkyun and Jooheon with their bodies. Besides, Shownu was stuck being included in activities that Minhyuk wanted to do in a short amount of time before God took back the angel.

 

“You think you can lie and get away with it, huh?” Jooheon was giving a decent glare at Changkyun while he was still pretending to have his back aching in pain. Seeing that the gag was still running, Jooheon could not hold back and began headlocking Changkyun between his muscles and started to crush the holy being without regret.

 

Without adding a word in the two idiot’s dispute, Minhyuk teleported Shownu and himself to an isolated and abandoned house somewhere in the world. “Okay, so why are you on Earth?” Shownu had to ask for his own personal knowing.

 

“I’m here to prevent you hurting or getting in the way of the daily life of the human named Jooheon. God vaguely said that, and I can infer that you’re obvious being a hassle in this human’s life, so I’ll deal with you,” Minhyuk was babbling again. “I was afraid that we would never see each other again.”

 

“Those words were too sweet for me to enjoy,” Shownu gulped down a lump in his throat. It was surely there, as insidious as having mercury inside of a human’s body. The fear that resided within Shownu was back and as strong as ever. The fellow angel that was apparent in his past life as an ordinary angel was coming back. Memories of a smiling “Minhyuk, you’re still scary as ever. You don’t fear anything.”

 

“In this case, I wonder who really is the angel here,” Minhyuk whispered, smiling cutely at Shownu. White wings sprouted apart on Minhyuk’s back, scaring Shownu a little. Multiple giant eyes began opening on the angel’s delicate and feathery wings which would focus each of its iris staring blankly at the fallen angel. It was those exact eyes that inflicted fear deep within Shownu because Minhyuk would never show anyone those disturbing wings except for Shownu.

 

* * *

  


Changkyun was fixing Jooheon’s hair, combing through the reddish brown locks as carefully as he can be. There was something about how much trust Jooheon had in Changkyun that was luring him like a moth to a lautern. There was a lot of things that he was supposed to be doing towards this particular human, but his own will to keep this bright human shining was imperative. In a world of unknown darkness, Changkyun knew how much of his goodness was deteriorating, but Jooheon was giving a new perspective to what life really was about. “Amazing, your hair is really good in this color,” Changkyun had to compliment the other male.

 

“Really? Thank you,” Jooheon giggled, sitting patiently on the floor as Changkyun remained on the edge of the bed. No one touched his hair the way Changkyun did except for his mom when he was little. It was pleasant to have someone fix his hair up, anyway. He needed the physical contact. “How about I touch yours as well?”

 

Changkyun lost himself between the lines, analyzing in a vulgar nature of what the pure-hearted words meant. When the time was too late to respond properly, he ended up apologizing first, “So-Sorry, I’ll let you.” Something dirty as mud but as hot as a wick on a candle was being cradled within Changkyun’s heart. He wanted to pick out with scalpel and reveal to himself of what it was; it bothered him beyond the pale. “Hey—”

 

Jooheon stood up from his spot and turned around to gaze into Changkyun’s eyes, but the distance was far too close for Changkyun to be comfortable in. “Yes?” Jooheon shamelessly responded.

 

“Nothing,” Changkyun sheepishly replied, turning his head to the left to avoid eye contact. The beating in his chest was aching and it was especially hard to handle because it never happened before throughout his life as an angel _and_ a fallen angel. Unprecedented and new, the unknown sensation was frisking through underneath his skin and lighting it aflame.

 

Jooheon realized that it may be because he was too close to the other male, so he backed off and noticed his assumption was correct when Changkyun looked immediately the moment there was distance between them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that I was too close,” Jooheon was the one to feel shy now. Although, he did not notice the proximity between him and the angel was only as thin as paper.

 

Changkyun smiled to let the awkward moment fade, but it only elevated the awkwardness to a new level. He tried to add a fake laugh in the air, but it still added more of the uncomfortable atmosphere. Thinking of what could possibly make the human feel better, Changkyun had another surprise in his sleeves. Quite literally. “Hey, look at this.” Changkyun articulated.

 

“Huh?”

 

“I think this would look nice on you,” Changkyun pulled out a white camellia out of the storage dimension he kept handy. He understood that humans liked flowers and tended to use them for multiple reasons, and the one he liked was to accessorize with it. There was something about Jooheon and flowers that clicked for Changkyun; it was the equivalent of combining peanut butter and jelly. He especially picked the flower ahead of time since it was to impress Jooheon.

 

However, Jooheon was flustered to receive a rather _interesting_ gift, but he wore the thing right above his ear and showcased the accessory as cutely as he could. It was manly in its own way because no one can tell Jooheon otherwise. Men could enjoy the simplicities of nature and embrace them while they exist. “Thank you,” Jooheon whispered, knowing it was heard regardless, “I’ll wear it nicely for the day.”

 

Changkyun nodded his head in appreciation of the gesture. He got up to head to the kitchen to grab his frozen ice cream to enjoy since his skin was beginning to feel like an electric blanket. Upon opening the fridge, he could hear that Jooheon was on the phone with somebody. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Jooheon had any real friends besides Changkyun, and it made Changkyun seem less special than he used to think. On another note, he reminded himself that he was the only angel friend that Jooheon would ever have. In fact, no one was going to be able to give the thrill and adventure to Jooheon like how Changkyun can. If someone wanted to dare to test Changkyun’s wrath, he would show no mercy to unleash. Jooheon _belonged_ to Changkyun…

 

Feeling an incredibly growing darkness within him, Changkyun shook off the nasty thoughts and maintained his sanity. Jooheon was an independent person, and he had every right to roam the earth and be himself. He did not belong to anyone but himself. Jooheon was only Jooheon’s business, so Changkyun had no justified reason to be having that type of mindset. The screaming evilness within him was telling him to dominate and force Jooheon to submit to Changkyun, and it was sending awful vibes to the angel. It was not something he wanted to do to Jooheon, but it was getting ultimately harder each time to resist these thoughts. Something was lurking within Changkyun that he needed to drive out of him, but it was living lively inside, turning things upside and burning areas here and there.

 

“Hey, Changkyun!” Jooheon semi-yelled. He stood at the end of the hallway, staring suspiciously at Changkyun.

 

Bringing back his mind to the realm around him, he realized that he was standing over an open fridge with a squishy ice cream in his hand. He put back the strawberry bar in the freezer to let it harden again, but he was unsure of how long he was subconscious. It surely did not feel like it was too long, but it deemed it was because Jooheon came to check on him. “I’m sorry.” Changkyun bowed his head to show his respect.

 

Jooheon nodded but could care less that Changkyun was regretful for being away long. The real concern that he had was that why Changkyun was almost frozen in time when he found him. When Jooheon thought that Changkyun was taking too long to simply get a treat, he went over to check on him to only notice that the angel was absolutely still as a mannequin by the fridge. There was no breathing or signs of life. It was as if the angel was dead, which was a weird thought for Jooheon to wrap his mind around. However, it was not only Changkyun’s weirdness that gave Jooheon odd vibes, but it was because his stomach was churning and it felt like he was going crazy simply being close to Changkyun. Even a fly that was buzzing around Changkyun fell over and died to some mysterious aura around the angel.

 

“Auuh, I feel terrible, Joohoney. Make me feel better,” Changkyun mourned, moving himself and nuzzling close to Jooheon’s chest. The nickname was a stretch, but he wanted to see if there was going to be a nice reaction from the human that would make the angel laugh.

 

“I’ll feed you some of my secret snacks under the bed,” Jooheon confessed, earning a shocked expression from Changkyun. For the time being, it was best for the two to share happy moments together and let trivial things slide until they become imperative. Candidly, Jooheon found himself to be fond of Changkyun’s presence.

 

Changkyun was almost disturbed that there was a hidden stash somewhere in the room that he did not find out about its whereabouts, but there was a rising question that served a good point. “Wait, how did you hide that from me? I should have been able to see through your heart about this stash.”

 

“Well, you see, if I can think of something strong enough, it can hide my heart’s desire or whatever. I didn’t think it was going to work well until I tried it out one time, and it went surprisingly went over your head.” Jooheon explained in a sheepish manner, earning an approved nod from Changkyun. It really helped being a proficient liar to even a higher being.

  
The two exited the kitchen to return to the room to converse and waste another night in getting close to each other. When Changkyun would rest his eyes, Jooheon would take the time to find that it was subtly heartwarming to read through the Angel Notes to recollect his thoughts about Changkyun and put the pieces together to understand the mythical being. Unable to help himself, he wrote something that he felt that was needed to be added into the confinement of its pages: “Changkyun is _not_ an angel, but he’s rather a fallen angel instead. Look further into this matter.”


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading up to this point! I hope you all enjoy the chapter and also the previous chapters! I'm trying to work on the future chapters as diligently as I can. If you have any questions or comments, please do leave them at the end! I like reading those here and there.

Changkyun was sitting patiently on the floor at the store as Jooheon stood bored for the next customer to at least bring life back into the store. He ogled the wide selection of candy as to pick out his next treat. In all of Changkyun’s honesty, what else was there to do besides do nothing? Changkyun really needed to do something other than think, but it was really all there was to do inside of Jooheon’s workplace. The security cameras would catch anything that was stolen by Changkyun. Besides, it would be all over the news about floating objects at a normal convenience store. It would be troublesome to everyone if Changkyun allowed himself to do something stupid for a moment.

 

“Please come again!” Jooheon proudly stated with a hard smile on his face to an elderly lady that was buying a carton of milk. He released the strains on his face the moment she left, and he felt awfully relieved to be able to frown and not have to force upon a faked smile to every single customer known to man. It was tiring but necessary to get paid. How else would he make a living?

 

“I think after attempting to mess with the electrical currents that run through the security cameras that I can manipulate the feedback on the videos,” Changkyun interrupted the silence of tranquility that Jooheon was basking in. The fallen angel waved his fingers to the left as Jooheon noticed that the camera monitors on the computer next to him moved to the same direction of Changkyun’s finger. Changkyun waved his fingers to the right and smiled as if he cured an incurable disease. “I think I got the hang of this.”

 

Jooheon really was not going to explain to the manager that the store was haunted or something. There was a saying somewhere about choosing to explain things in a simple manner rather than a complicated way, but it was exactly that that Jooheon was choosing to do. Actually, it was annoying him to be overthinking it, so he glared at Changkyun to cut the bullshit and be serious around the workplace until Jooheon got off the clock. The message was well received as Changkyun returned all the cameras to its original positions and did not bother Jooheon the rest of the shift. It was almost like taking care of a child to Jooheon; one that had powers and was not technically human.

 

“I’ll reward you with any snack at the end of my shift if you stay quiet,” Jooheon remarked, sighing to himself as he waited for another customer to come through the entrance.

 

“Deal.” Answered Changkyun.

 

* * *

 

 

Jooheon was having a nightmare, or at least it felt like it was. He was sure he was asleep, but he never experienced a lucid dream. He always thought it was a myth that the movie  _ Inception  _ created to make people think it was real. However, there he was, roaming an empty field of flowers by himself in his dream. Jooheon knew that he never was able to do this before, but it was for some reason happening out of the blue. The only way he knew he was dreaming was that he wanted the flower field to be a specific breed of flowers and watched as every single floral being became the type of flowers he wanted in an instant. Logically, a flower cannot change at a person’s command.

 

At least he always fathomed of what kind of dreams he was able to create if he had control of it. Jooheon demolished the whole field and summoned up four walls and added furniture. He gave color to wallpaper and completed the bed to match the one he had in his real room. In fact, he basically replicated his room because he thought it would be easier to go back to sleep if he was in his bed. He was ready to lie on his bed until a voice permeated through the room as smooth as an ice cube sliding on a tile flooring. “Jooheon!”

 

The male’s voice was oddly familiar, but Jooheon was dubious that it was someone that he knew personally. It was truly strange because he had no control over the voice. He turned to see where it came from and saw that it was Changkyun standing by the doorway. Jooheon commanded the dream-Changkyun to disappear, but there was no response from the fallen angel. “Isn’t this my lucid dream?”

 

“Come here,” Changkyun quickly hovered over Jooheon and bit into the human’s lips and sucked gently at the lower, fleshy lip. Jooheon’s ears were furiously pink before blowing up in a lava red. Changkyun’s iris was black as the shadows at night, and it scared Jooheon temporarily. Over a short time lapse, it began to beckon the innocent human to fall into them, to be engrossed in them to the point of unconsciousness.

 

Jooheon snapped out of his delusion and was about to escape the bed when he found himself kissing Changkyun all over again. It was tasting so good, mixing his saliva with Changkyun. It was wrong, disgusting, lustful, but it was like he won the lottery every second he could swipe his tongue across the raw canvas on Changkyun’s tongue. He was being teased with heaven, but his body was burning in hell. It was a melting pot of emotions, and Jooheon was losing himself rather quickly to the pace. “More, I need more,” Jooheon panted through the spaces of his sloppy kisses exchanged with Changkyun.

 

When Changkyun fiddled with Jooheon’s belt, Jooheon woke up in a heated sweat. He intensely surveyed his room and released a breath of relief as he realized he was actually in reality. Everything was where it needed to be, and Changkyun was resting on the floor for once. The fallen angel was laid out like how a kid would make snow angels in winter, and it made Jooheon to slightly chuckle to the calming sight. 

 

Suddenly, Changkyun awakened and looked disturbed with his expression. “Who made that sound? I’m a light sleeper, so I’m prepared for anything!” 

 

“Oh sorry, I was laughing at you,” Jooheon confessed, snickering to himself as he turned to face the wall to go back to sleep. As long as the perturbed dreams of Changkyun remained in his head and out of reality, it would not bother Jooheon as much as it did. Clenching the blanket, pulling it up to his shoulders, he could close his eyes and dream a better thought for his brain. At least the new dream should have something like cosseting a giant chameleon. It would be so cool to have that instead.

 

* * *

 

Changkyun was pleasantly waiting for Jooheon to finish his shift at work. Today was a little different than usual since Jooheon told Changkyun to watch the house instead. It was not like Changkyun minded, so he stayed like the human asked. However, the normal day estranged the moment two unwelcomed guests warped into the living room. “Mr. Jooheon’s Fallen Angel! Shownu and I are here to keep you company,” Minhyuk shouted thoroughly, but it was fortunate the actual human beings could not sense the presence of the holy entities. 

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Changkyun presented himself in front of the odd mix of angels. “Jooheon’s parents aren’t home today. Please don’t cause their home any trouble or else I will make things ugly.”

 

“Fair enough,” Shownu shrugged, finding the couch to be rather decent to sit upon. The material of the couch rubbed together and produced a squeaky sound as the springs within it cranked. 

 

“You want to die today, Mr. Cocky?” Minhyuk smiled as he sang in excitement. 

 

Changkyun figured there was something perplexed about the angel that the other fallen angel in the room did not want to intervene at all. “I’m good as long as you can behave in another person’s house.”

 

Minhyuk smiled as usual and ran to sit next to his best friend. He really remained oblivious to the labels that everyone had, but Minhyuk could care less about the idea. Shownu did not show any sign of enjoyment as Minhyuk was cuddling extremely close to the supposed menacing angel. It was not like there anything that he could do about the other male. Even by power levels, Shownu would have trouble trying to overpower Minhyuk. Regardless of those thoughts, Shownu peered at Changkyun and said, “I think there might be a problem in your statement since this one is a troublemaker.”

 

Changkyun nodded without analyzing too deep into the words to comprehend its meaning. It was already clear to him that there was something that should not be disturbed when confronting Minhyuk. It would help that Shownu somehow kept the other male balanced, so Changkyun did not want to separate the two in the slightest. “I think I can empathize with you. You guys hungry?” Changkyun politely asked.

 

“I don’t require to eat.” Shownu stated.

 

Minhyuk raised his hand and happily complied, “I do. I do! I want to try eating a nice hot meal again.”

 

Changkyun was about to walk away when his heart ached too suddenly. “Aaah!” He covered his chest with his hands and let out a groan of agony as he could feel his veins wanting to pop out of his skin. It was like he was a piece of wood that was being gnawed on by an infestation of termites. Minhyuk remained calm as he swung his head side to side to an unknown beat, but Shownu began shielding Minhyuk as a dark aura began swallowing the whole room. It was pitch black momentarily, but it returned to the normal lighting as every line of black smoke reentered Changkyun’s barely stable body. Changkyun was almost out of breath, but he gave a scornful stare at Shownu and Minhyuk. “What. The. Hell. Was that?” 

 

“Let’s just say you’re slooowly losing control of your physical body because your soul is supposed to be filled with malice, lust, greed, and all sorts of fun and sins,” Minhyuk explained rather clearly for Changkyun to understand the dire situation he was in, “but it seems like you’re having fun being something that you were not supposed to be. Consequences are bound to happen.”

 

“I can only gain control of myself if I perform all these insidious and wrong things to Jooheon, huh?” Changkyun bluntly wanted the truth. He could already tell the answer to his question with the eyes that Shownu and Minhyuk were giving him. He wanted to curse himself back to Hell to be stuck in such a predicament. If there was anything that he wished could happen was that Jooheon was able to live a life that was filled with adventure and eternal happiness. The heartwarming thoughts was physically hurting Changkyun, and he realized that it was going to be an endeavor to live with Jooheon now. A single change to the snow was all it took to cause an avalanche, and Changkyun was afraid that he was going to be buried one way or another.

 

“I hate to break it to you, but the little manipulation to Jooheon’s dreams isn’t going to cut the amount of goodness you’re inputting,” Shownu was exasperated, but he was able to convey the importance of his message. He admitted that he was not a bad guy by choice, but he managed to fit the shoes over the course of time. It was something similar to what humans called, ‘growing up.’ 

 

Changkyun could feel the hopelessness running in the air, but he clutched his pride and held tightly to the hopes of finding a way to escape fate. “Well, fuck, I’ll figure something out,” he uttered nonsense. 

 

* * *

 

Jooheon was aware of Changkyun’s sudden change in behavior in the recent days. He was not too blunt to openly talk about it to the fallen angel, but he wondered as to what was spinning in the usual clueless mind that belonged to Changkyun. If the neighborhood dog, that barked at everyone that passed by at every chance it could get, randomly stopped at out nowhere, it would be known among the whole neighborhood about this information. It would simply be impossible to not notice it. 

 

Laying purposelessly on the bed with Changkyun, Jooheon was attempting to take a nap, avoiding any exchange of words. However, the conversations were light and meaningless recently, for there was no regular proximity between their usual threaded words—Changkyun started to cut it too short. It was not like Jooheon was disappointed each time that happened, but he did not want to come to the conclusion that he and Changkyun were drifting away from each other. Although, he was not sure as to why he was scared to come to that final answer and worked in his intense effort to find other tactics to solve the distance. Jooheon was like playing a piano with the sheet music placed neatly in front of him, but he was carefully tapping the right notes until his fingers could press the wrong key and mess him up entirely. 

 

“You okay?” Changkyun spoke the same tone as he usually did. He only saw the back of Jooheon’s head, but he wanted to touch and caress through the hair to see if Jooheon was taking the usual good care of his hair as before. Days were beginning to be counted before Changkyun was at his limit to intake all goodwill that he was accepting in himself. Even so, he was handling better knowing that Jooheon was subtly in pain. 

 

For a moment, Jooheon forgot that he was dealing with a fallen angel and that his heart could be read as easy as the morning newspaper if he did not cover it up. The human realized the gap between them was not only there in their relationship, but it was also apparent in terms of the food chain. “I’m fine,” Jooheon lied, knowing it was going to be called out. 

 

“Really? Okay,” Changkyun did not press the matter too seriously, which was absurd because it was what Changkyun would love to do to Jooheon half the time. The kindness and need to protect Jooheon from danger was overwhelming for the fallen angel, but there was a reason why a cockroach was so damn resilient against most of its threats. Through cheesy, generic, and cliché thoughts, Changkyun wanted to believe temporarily that he was invincible and wonderful. Attempting to smile for himself, it only turned into a frown before Changkyun realized how much it was aching in his chest again. Was he being too kind in his mind?

 

“If there’s something wrong, you would let me know, right?” Jooheon hinted awfully at what was bothering him and also Changkyun, but he did not turn to face the unholy entity directly. 

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Liar,” Jooheon whispered, digging his face deeper into his pillow as he held it angrily.

 

“Sorry.” Changkyun nonchalantly cooed. Those were the final words that he stated before the itching and throbbing pain in his heart could not take it anymore and exploded. A darkness crept out from his skin and onto the bed sheets. Before any of the evilness within Changkyun could touch Jooheon, a barrier of light came in between the two and prevented a mess from happening.

 

“That was dangerous,” Minhyuk teased, shamelessly invading Jooheon’s home without permission. “You should have just told Jooheon that you are slowly losing yourself trying to be nice.”

 

Changkyun’s darkness retreated back within his body, and his consciousness resumed to what he was last thinking. He also took note that the barrier of light was also a box that entrapped Jooheon. It seemed to serve a defensive and offensive purpose, but he was honestly thankful that the actual angel came to the rescue. Changkyun inhaled a breath of relaxation and peered over at Jooheon still as if time was frozen. “Is he okay?” Changkyun was bound to ask, lifting himself and sitting at the edge of bed.

 

“He’s sort of in a stasis at the moment. When the box goes down, he’ll return to normal like nothing happened.” Explained Minhyuk, leaning against the corner of Jooheon’s desk. The angel’s expression never changed as he maintained his toothy grin at Changkyun. Without a real warning, he made a spike stretch out from the box of light and impaled Changkyun through the right shoulder. “You  _ really  _ should watch and know your place before you get in some real trouble.”

 

Speechless of what just happened, Changkyun could see the pointy tip of the spike right through his body. Blood began seeping into his clothes, and he had to experience the dreadful feeling of having the barb retracting and escaping his body in a slow manner. Not desiring to complain, he had no choice but to use as much of his energy to heal his wound fast. “Fuck,” Changkyun was witnessing the darkness within the hole in his shoulder trickle out as black faint smoke. 

 

“That was certainly uncalled for,” Shownu suddenly appeared in Jooheon’s room. A deep frown was present on his face as he confronted Minhyuk. Without trying to disturb Changkyun and Jooheon’s life any further, he teleported Minhyuk and himself to another location to privately discuss Minhyuk’s actions. 

 

The barrier of light dissipated quickly on Jooheon, and it was like time resumed for the male again. “Sorry is the best you got?” He turned over to see Changkyun on the edge of the bed, covering up something away from Jooheon. There was something missing that Jooheon figured was important.

 

“I’m sorry. Sorry. Sorry,” Changkyun whimpered, shivering as the wound was finally closing up. 

 

“Hey,” Jooheon stood up and got off the bed to stand over Changkyun. The first thing his eyes caught was the blood-stained mark on Changkyun’s right shoulder. It was certainly a first, but it was not like a hole can appear on clothes, so there was something to the puzzle that Jooheon was suddenly missing. Not bothering to let Changkyun explain himself, Jooheon went out of the room to grab a first-aid kit. It was best to see what he could for the fallen angel if there was anything that needed to be patched.

 

“I’m fine,” Changkyun muttered, afraid of letting Jooheon touch his exposed skin. An unyielding fear that served no purpose but to inhibit Changkyun from being too vulnerable to Jooheon. If the crack within him was to be found out from Jooheon, he was scared that he would shatter on the spot. Leaving no signs of Changkyun, being vacuumed into a bag and thrown away, he was not ready to be peeled to the core. Covering up the fair skin that recently regenerated, Changkyun was acting irrational by not letting Jooheon see the imprint from Minhyuk’s surprise attack.

 

“Please, let me look at it,” Jooheon kindly asked, knowing that if someone was cornered to a wall that he or she would try to pretend to be strong and mask the bruises and scars. Jooheon observed with an attentive eye and was pleased when Changkyun removed his hand from the shoulder and revealed the already healed wound. The only thing that was disturbing was the blood and hole that was on Changkyun’s good shirt. “I think I can attempt to sew that back on together decently,” Jooheon went up to fetch more supplies. 

 

Although, Changkyun could always make new clothes for himself. He did not want to let Jooheon’s effort go in vain. Every step he took for now on was a minefield, for the path of fate was diverting in two directions that Changkyun did not like either way. If the thorny path led to unhappiness, and the path with a cliff led to nothingness and the unknown, was there even a real, rational choice to make for Changkyun? Kindness should always be repaid with kindness. It was common sense to Changkyun, but the situation he was forcibly in did not make any room for such an emotion. His eyes went to the door and saw as Jooheon entered the area again.

 

“I’ll make time later on to fix your shirt, but let me know what happened to you just now,” Jooheon was heavily staring into Changkyun’s iris with determination and commitment. He walked over to sit next to Changkyun on the bed.

 

“I-uh,” Changkyun stumbled over himself, but he had to explain the predicament to Jooheon or else there would be no communication between them. “It’s becoming physically impossible for me to be this nice and good towards you. Sooner or later I’ll just erupt into a mass of negative energy and make a mess in my path. It’s part of who I am as a fallen angel. I can’t,” stopping to close his eyes momentarily, “escape my fate.”

 

“So, for you to be okay, you just need to maintain a balance of inflicting pain on me then,” Jooheon firmly grasped the theme that Chankyun was conveying. “Not in some weird kinky way, but to make me actually suffer and turn my back against God.”

 

“Yeah,” Changkyun whispered, riding the wave of despair as the happy times he shared was going to altered negatively. 

 

Jooheon shook his head before clapping his hands together loudly. “Okay! Let’s do it then! Anything to help your burden.”

 

“No, I can’t possibly do that to you, Jooheon,” Changkyun immediately refused. He was reluctant to the idea, but he supposed it was the best that Jooheon understood the type of position he was about to place himself in. “You know that I would have to do so many malicious things to you.” 

 

“A god that would let someone as kind as you to suffer is  _ not _ my type of god,” Jooheon confessed, proudly standing by his words. His heart did not tremble at the thought of a divine punishment. There was someone that he wanted to cherish that deserved to live a happy and content life as much as Jooheon can. 

 

Changkyun was impressed by the dedication while the back of his throat was beginning to get itchy. Goosebumps lined along his arms and legs as a cold shiver rode his spine. His eyes darkening as he realized how juicy those words sounded when Jooheon spoke. It was pulling him, luring him like a fly to the bottom of the pit of a carnivorous plant. A stark brave and hungry Changkyun was blooming from the ground that the old Changkyun was afraid to sprout from. “Would you even commit acts that would be considered  _ detestable _ ?” Changkyun seductively ghosted his words over Jooheon’s lips. The distance closing rather hastily and frictionless. As far as Changkyun was concerned, homosexual activities was a splendid way to send someone on the wrong path, and it would be fun to indulge in it along the way.

 

Jooheon’s ears were starting to burn the same color as red wine, and he was unsure if he was ready for what was ahead of him. However, he easily noted that Changkyun was absorbing the doubt within Jooheon’s heart over God. If it was a matter of faith, his faith aligned perfectly in Changkyun truthfully. “I think so,” Jooheon stated, swallowing the dry spit in his mouth.

 

“A kiss would suffice today,” Changkyun cockily mentioned. He loved the continuous and rapid beating that was going inside of Jooheon’s heart. There was also the small voice telling Changkyun that Jooheon was definitively faltering between a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’, but there was a slight lean towards the positive aspect.

 

“Give me time to think about it please,” Jooheon sheepishly answered, backing away, giving themselves space to breathe for awhile. 

 

“Oh,” Changkyun’s eyes returned to their normal coloring, and he could feel the wave of regret coming to the shore. The blooming confidence was cut at the stem and was left to die. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to act out of line, but I sometimes can’t control myself from being in tuned with my malicious intent. Please forget my request.” 

 

Jooheon nodded without replying; however, he could see that Changkyun was showing signs of remorse. Letting his guard down, he gave himself a mental slap on the back before going to Changkyun, cupping his face, intensely showing his fearless eyes, and gently, slowly pressing his lips against the fallen angel as he could feel the dryness on Changkyun’s lips upon first contact. After a few seconds of adjusting to the unfamiliar boundary that the two entered together, Jooheon knew he was not forced to do anything, but he was excited to kiss the fallen angel and closed his eyes while their lips worked a rhythm out.

 

Changkyun’s tongue managed to slip through Jooheon’s jaws and wrestled with his own tongue. It was too  _ good _ to Jooheon that he questioned if Changkyun had a past history that made him naturally good at kissing. Parting their lips to inhale necessary oxygen, Jooheon was shaky as he understood the giant leap that escalated in their friendship. Changkyun was too flustered that he had to explain himself as to why kissing was a good idea. “I think that anything related to homosexuality would be like a spit in God’s face, and you’re not gay yourself, so it would a nice alternative route as opposed to me making you physically sick or something.”

 

“Changkyun,” Jooheon replied, grabbing hold of Changkyun by the shoulders, “that was okay to do. I gave you my consent. I want you to be stable rather than to lose control of yourself. You’re right, anyways, that it is is safer than making me fall sick or torturing me to death.”

 

“Yeah, I don’t want you to be put into any unnecessary pain,” Changkyun shyly retorted, avoiding the gaze of Jooheon’s eyes.

 

“Thank you.”

  
“No, thank you.”


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone, for commenting and whatnot! I deeply appreciate the feedback! I am glad that this story is gaining some reactions here and there. Anyway, please do continue to read and enjoy the story! Please do continue giving kudos, bookmarks, or comments! I appreciate each and every little support for this story c: Thank you for choosing to read this!

It was a little over two weeks when Changkyun and Jooheon decided to start making out with each other to help maintain Changkyun’s soul. A _really_ good session can set Changkyun stable for a week before he would act up again. It was not like Jooheon found it bothersome to do, but if there was anything about romance that Jooheon was knowledgable about, it was that he was hooked on the intimate touching that they were performing. The kisses was not something Jooheon did with simply anyone, so he predisposed to letting his neuronetwork to mix the lines of love and normality.

 

Time elapsed and soon enough Jooheon was having himself crave the intimacy to travel further down the road. It was so common for him to find himself trapped between Changkyun’s arms and lips as they grind slowly against each other’s crotches on the bed. ‘More’ was something Jooheon was so fucking close to saying, but he was scared of the future of possibilities that was traced with that short word. After Changkyun received enough to satisfy his stability, he would stop, back away, and apologize for using Jooheon. However, Jooheon would always tell the fallen angel that it was totally fine with ears as red as tomatoes. It was not like they were dating or anything, so it was impossible for the kissing to mean more than the sake of keeping Changkyun together. Although following his secret wishful thinking, Jooheon was subconsciously desiring it to be worth more.

 

One day, the yearning thoughts would be echoing in his heart, and Jooheon was only praying as he stuffed his face into his pillow that Changkyun would try to not read his heart or pretend to not notice it. It would help keep the line between them slightly blurred until Jooheon would crash into it shamelessly. Quietly in his room, he turned around away from his pillow to check on Changkyun. “What are you doing?” asked Jooheon, spotting the falling angel shoving something into his interdimensional storage, “and what did you just take from me?”

 

“Nothing,” Changkyun walked to the window ostentatiously, making it obvious that he was caught in his act. “I totally didn’t try to swipe your phone.”

 

“My what!?” Jooheon immediately rose from the bed and began chasing after Changkyun.

 

“I’m sorry!” Changkyun laughed as he tried to evade Jooheon. “I wanted a phone to use when I get bored too!”

 

At that moment, Jooheon stopped trying to suppress the other male and sighed aloud, “Really? Is that something you really want?” The silence was pooling in the area, but Changkyun’s puppy eyes made it difficult for Jooheon to stay mad. “Aargh, okay. I’ll work on getting you a phone this month.”

 

“Thank you!” Changkyun threw his hands in the air, which also released the phone from the dimension and shot into the ceiling before it plopped on the floor.

 

Jooheon was speechless at what happened and analyzed the giant crack on his phone that was there. He wanted to get pissed, but he supposed he was dealing with a sort of magical being. “Please tell me you can fix that.”

 

“Y-Yes,” Changkyun replied shyly, not trying to aggravate the human any more than he already was. “I’m also sorry for my carelessness for your phone.”

 

“At least you know what you are sorry for, so you just work on making yourself a better person. I mean, angel. You get what I mean.” Jooheon nervously chuckled to himself as he figured it was a little awkward to mislabel Changkyun like that. The line of higher being and being human was thin as a slice of progressed ham, but Jooheon truthfully did not care either way. What mattered to Jooheon was that Changkyun was Changkyun. Whether the line between them faded or became a wall, it was Jooheon that was going to casually find himself crossing it with both feet over the boundary.

 

Sitting on the wooden floor, Jooheon laid comfortably and glanced at the ceiling with a curious eye. Changkyun followed his lead, but he was ultimately unsure of what to look at with a boring ceiling that humans need as shelter. “Why are we looking at this roof?” Changkyun rolled his head to look at Jooheon.

 

Jooheon did not exchange eye contact because his own eyes were fixated on what was in front of him. “I think better when I just lay down and do nothing but stare into space. It’s sorta relaxing.”

 

“Let’s make it interesting for you then.” Changkyun stated, waving his hand as the ceiling opened a portal to the different galaxies and stars. He easily wowed Jooheon as they openly stared into literal space. He held onto Jooheon’s hand calmly, and he realized that the heart beating in pain in his chest was not as bad as the other times. It was almost filled with happiness and soft emotions that were surely going to overwhelm him if he did not do something to eradicate it. Unfortunately, he did not know what it all meant, but he did understand that he enjoyed holding Jooheon’s sweaty hands. Nothing meant anything unless Jooheon was the one next to him, and the time that was supposed to be precious was endlessly rolling into oblivion. Even if being sweet was killing him, Changkyun was going to endure it until his demise.

 

Jooheon blushed like he never did before, trembling with feelings that were not supposed to be lingering within him. The scenery was so beautiful, so phenomenal that it brought a tear to both of his eyes. Was a thank you even sufficient to express his gratitude to the first-hand experience of space? Not aware of what he should do, he did what he felt was natural and leaned over to Changkyun and kissed him. Not the usual intensity, it was softer and laced with a poison that could turn a man mad. Upon cutting the contact short, Jooheon happily giggled at Changkyun as the inside of him was flooding with an emotion too happy to be labeled only as contentedness. “Thank you so much, Changkyun.”

 

* * *

 

Minhyuk was frowning and pouting like a baby in front of Changkyun and Jooheon. The fallen angel and human were sitting on the bed as they awaited for whatever Minhyuk wanted to do. Shownu nudged him forward to do what they talked about. Minhyuk sighed and reluctantly apologized to Changkyun. “I’m sorry for my actions, Changkyun. I should have not stabbed you like that. I am sorry.”

 

“No worries. I accept your apology, but I won’t forgive you right away.” Changkyun spoke with no lie in his heart. Shownu had no problem with the actions, and Minhyuk was a little disturbed at the decision. However, Minhyuk accepted that it was for the best to work on getting that forgiveness in the future even if he would never get it. In that moment, Minhyuk felt more human than he ever did before.

 

Jooheon stood up and smacked Minhyuk across the cheek fearlessly, shocking Changkyun and Shownu at the recklessness. “I know you can take that. It’s nothing compared to stabbing someone. I understand if it was for self-defense, but Changkyun did nothing to me because you saved me. Thank you, but you really didn’t need to stab him in compensation.”

 

“I accept your punishment.” Minhyuk had no other option because he was not allowed to hurt the person he was assigned to protect. It would be far too contradictory. Strangely, there was a sign of remorse floating in his stomach over his past actions.

 

“Okay, I’m good now,” Jooheon exhaled a breath of relief, closing his eyes as he grasped the unprecedented concept that he was slapping angels openly. He would have to tell his future kids that he had no problem fighting angels, and it would be a kickass story to tell after he dramatized it. In an odd turn of events, he realized that he was not really going to have kids because he still wanted to go on his life without having to take care of any children.

 

Shownu warped Minhyuk out of the area to do whatever he wanted to do with the angel. It was not really Jooheon’s business to be digging his fingers into. His real concern was that Changkyun was next to him and that the life between them would not be too complicated. “Are you gonna be okay?” Jooheon smiled at Changkyun, purposely showing off his charismatic charm to the fallen angel.

 

“No,” Changkyun playfully replied, frowning as if he was actually upset about something. Jooheon was able to tell that Changkyun was actually happy because the smile was not far from creeping on Changkyun’s face after five seconds of getting lost in each other’s eyes. “Okay, okay, you got me!”

 

The two erupted in laughter as they helplessly closed the distance. How deep was Jooheon falling into this unknown emotion with Changkyun? The answer that Jooheon came up with was—endlessly. A merry-go-round that he happily rode as everything spun to a blur. Jooheon’s lips were seconds from tasting Changkyun’s lips, but he resisted as much as he can because Changkyun already had his fill to keep him stable. It would be too awkward to burst into a makeout session out of the blue. The hesitation made Jooheon’s brain think that it was in danger, and it pulled him away from putting himself at risk again.

 

Silently, Jooheon recollected himself and isolated his heart from logic. It was better that way…

 

* * *

 

It was near midnight when Changkyun and Jooheon were climbing the same mountain that they first met each other. It was a little over a month since Changkyun arrived to Earth to convert Jooheon’s faith in God as his mission as a fallen angel. It was supposed to go down a destructive path from the beginning, but it was not like every line of a story was true. Jooheon was holding Changkyun’s hand up the many flights of stairs to the top even though the fallen angel had a different internal temperature. The warmth that pooled at Changkyun’s hand was overbearing, but he loved every second of it because it was Jooheon’s heat and not anyone else’s.

 

“You can teleport us to the top, but I think it would be meaningless as a journey to cut straight to the end,” Jooheon confessed as his breathing was progressively getting jagged. The crickets seldomly chirped a song into the night. Branches from the trees stretched and screeched to the gust.

 

“You want me to be so human,” Changkyun teased, but he never let go of Jooheon’s hand while the crisp, night air ruled the stairs. Endearing as a flower in spring, Changkyun found that the coldest and darkest of nights was nothing in comparison to Jooheon’s everlasting warmth. “I think it wouldn’t be as bad or boring if I was reborn as a human and met you again.”

 

“Why you say that?” Jooheon expressed confusion on his face towards Changkyun as he stopped walking for moment.

 

Changkyun laughed as he looked into the stars, knowing that there was someone in Heaven looking over them. “I think you’re an adventure as you are. Brave as one can be, people like you deserve a happy ending.”

 

“D-Don’t say shit like that,” Jooheon flushed, nudging at his friend in a strong motion. Spontaneous as a cat; Jooheon understood that there was so much to Changkyun that he was happy to explore. As his own heart swelled, Changkyun was aching over his own heart for different reasons. Hurtful words he should have said remained unspoken because the will to be evil was too weak against the will to be generous.

 

A mysterious person was creeping in the background as he watched as the two were happily climbing the mountain. His bleached white hair and navy blue edges were as ostentatious as a peacock’s feathers, but he remained undetected to Changkyun and Jooheon that were absorbed in their conversation. The stranger smiled to himself. “So it was true. There is a fallen angel that is bonded to a human male.”

 

Upon reaching the top, Changkyun was stretching his arms as he was a little sad that he was not holding onto Jooheon’s hand anymore. Jooheon was already at the temple and gave his prayers to the sky to be heard. Although Changkyun was not able to grasp at what the human prayed, he could interpret that it was something heartwarming and goodwilled. Through his self-absorbed thoughts, he faintly felt a presence nearby at a lightning speed. As a wind sweep through his face, the last thing he saw was a streak of blue before it hastily made its way to Jooheon and collided with him. Changkyun was not sure what happened in the last few moments, but he was already feeling a vengeful wrath in his soul rising.

 

“Who are you?” Changkyun stood immediately over at Jooheon. The human was shaking fearfully before he opened his eyes forcefully accompanied with a smile that disturbed Changkyun.

 

“I’m your Jooheon, Changkyunnie.” The voice did not belong entirely to Jooheon. It was as if someone else’s voice was playing at the same time as Jooheon’s.

 

“Why are you possessing Jooheon?” Changkyun seriously asked for the spirit’s intentions with Jooheon’s body.

 

“Let’s play our cards carefully since this is not my body,” Jooheon spoke sinisterly. “I won’t be giving up something this imperative until I get what I want.”

 

Changkyun hated being played into someone’s hands, but he saw that his pride was something he had no choice to swallow. A new problem came up and his vicious ideas of torturing the spirit within Jooheon was mass-producing at a lightning speed. There were things that he imagined that were too inhumane that he had to stop himself from losing his real self. It was best to communicate at the spirit that was fondling Jooheon’s body excessively. “Please refrain from doing that type of stuff to Jooheon’s body.”

 

“Shut up, I’ll do what I want.” Jooheon retorted angrily, feeling up his breasts before pinching his love handles. “Hm. My sides before was way better than this one, but it will have to do.”

 

“How about you give up Jooheon’s body?” Changkyun knew what he had to do and say to entice the spirit. There was something he can do for Jooheon that was risky as a vampire being out in the sun, but he was willing to do what he had to do for Jooheon to return to normal. He would quickly give up everything to save Jooheon, and it even meant if he had to put himself in the fire. As long as Jooheon was finally safe from being touched by a dirty, greedy, cold, and dark world, then Changkyun was happy letting himself be swallowed up by a monster’s teeth. “I’ll let you possess _me_ instead.”

 

The spirit possessing Jooheon looked at the fallen angel up and down before deciding to shrug. It was intriguing to see if it was possible to invade a fallen angel’s body as a spirit, but the spirit was willing to oblige with the plan. “I suppose you will have to do. It far beats being in a human’s body for the time being.”

 

Changkyun was planning to destroy the spirit the moment it escaped from Jooheon’s body, not hesitating to erase the spirit’s soul for the rest of eternity. Jooheon approached Changkyun and then cupped his face before kissing him openly in public. Changkyun was taken aback from the action that he did not notice that the spirit transferred successfully into Changkyun’s body. When they separated, Jooheon was regaining consciousness as Changkyun was fighting the spirit’s possession within him. He fell backwards as if he was about to dive into a pool of shallow waters and frantically twitched over the gelid cement.

 

“Cha-Changkyun? Are you okay?” Jooheon retained his sanity and worried quickly over Changkyun’s condition.

 

“How about you call me, Wonho, darling?” A voice played over Changkyun. For a small moment, Changkyun overwhelmed Wonho’s soul and took over to talk to the human. “Jooheon, I know this is weird, but this guy is a fucking psycho. Don’t listen to him.”

 

“Okay, so I can guess that I was possessed first, and you selflessly put yourself in danger to free me,” Jooheon was not having any of Wonho’s or Changkyun’s shit for the rest of the night. It was going to be bothersome the next few days until he can figure a way to get Wonho out of Changkyun.

 

Minhyuk appeared suddenly and began to shut Changkyun in the same box of light that he put Jooheon before. Shownu animated himself a second later and could infer what took place by looking into Changkyun’s soul. “Looks like trouble goes wherever Changkyun goes.” Minhyuk lamented, rubbing his temple. “Luckily, I can take out the guy from Changkyun’s body.”

 

“Wow, amazing. This was fairly a simple problem then,” Jooheon was praising the angel for the commendable actions. “It won’t hurt Changkyun, will it?”

 

“Nah. Okay, maybe a sting here and there.” Minhyuk subtly told the truth. He could only hope the white lies were convincing enough to let him perform the action anyway.

 

Jooheon watched as Shownu approached the box of light and broke it without a sign of struggle. Minhyuk stepped quickly to Changkyun and drove his hand deep into Changkyun’s chest. He pulled Wonho out a moment later and strangled the male spirit by the helm of his shirt. “Hi, hi.” Minhyuk chirped.

 

Wonho sheepishly waved his hand, knowing he was caught so easily. “I guess a sorry won’t fix the trouble I caused?”

 

“Aye, bastard,” Jooheon called out, “I want a good explanation of what you were trying to do before I let these guys have their way with you.”

 

As Changkyun was feeling free from Wonho’s grasp, he was going to do something purely evil towards the spirit until Shownu put his hand on Changkyun’s shoulders. Shownu shook his head as if it was not worth the trouble, and Changkyun was able to let down his emotion and pick up his logic again. He supposed that it would not only be better to not engage anything that was depicted as regrettable in the the long-run, and Changkyun would not want Jooheon to see him in bad light. Being considerate and aware of others was becoming more and more familiar to Changkyun. He wondered if it was because of Jooheon’s impact on his life.

 

“I swear! Please don’t kill me!” Wonho cried out, which was something that Jooheon was not aware ghosts or spirits could do. Well, at this point in Jooheon’s abnormal life, anything could happen.

 

“So state your purpose for trying to manipulate these fellows.” Shownu articulated. He had no problem pulling a flaming sword of black flame at the spirit.

 

“I-I just wan-wanted to hear my friend sing again.” Wonho whined, rubbing the back of his thumbs over his eyes to wipe away the tears. He was truthful to his heart that all the angels in the area could tell simply by looking at it. Although the heart was not there physically, it was still attached to the soul of Wonho’s spirit. A sadness that colored everything in blue and black until everything was like the bottom of the dwelling ocean. Wave after wave, the world to Wonho was drowned in a dark blue.

 

Jooheon really wished that he was not responsible for helping everyone get what they wanted, for it was not his sole purpose in life. He did not even want to help himself sometimes! Why should he put the time and effort to help these supernatural beings achieve a form of peace? Although, he cannot argue over his empathy because he could feel that there was a melancholic vibe coming from the spirit. Perhaps he could make something happen for the spirit to get what he wanted. “Let’s meet your friend, and I’ll see what I can do.” Although, Jooheon was very reluctant to say so.

 

A week after Wonho’s arrival in Jooheon’s life, Changkyun was wallowing in the bedroom with the colorful-haired spirit as Jooheon was hearing out Wonho’s story once more. “So let me get this straight. You can’t be seen by this same friend or by anyone, but I’m able to see and feel you?”

 

“Yeah! It’s been lonely talking to cats only,” Wonho confessed shyly, presenting the human a toothy grin. “Please still help me talk to my friend. I just want to have peace.”

 

“Ugh,” Jooheon groaned, causing Changkyun to look up in worry. “I suppose I can do something for you.”

 

* * *

 

It was how Jooheon caught himself in the mess of spiritual business by standing in front of an apartment complex that was far away from his own. It was definitively unfamiliar and new. Jooheon was going to back out like he would usually do when he did not want to do something, but Wonho was behind Jooheon in such a timid manner. Jooheon found it arguable to ditch, but Changkyun was also there for moral support. In some way. It was manageable to go on as long as Changkyun’s presence was present. Hence, Jooheon began to climb up the flight of stairs to the right floor.

 

Upon reaching the fourth floor, Jooheon was already tired in the thighs. He wished he was not human anymore, so he could at least take shortcuts to places with wings or teleportation powers. Then again, he had his own perks of being human, and he kept his faith in himself from flying away. “Okay, this should be the floor, so where is the apartment?” Jooheon was expecting Wonho to lead the way.

 

“I will lead us then,” Wonho admitted, going in front of everyone and walking through the familiar white hallways. The marble flooring was such an odd choice, but he supposed there not much he could complain about since he was dead already. Materialism was not something he needed anymore.

 

After a left at the corner of the hallway, they walked a few feet down before stopping at a door that had 212 on the side. It also had a box underneath that had two buttons. One was a doorbell and the other was an intercom speaker. “I’ll take it that you want me to press one of them,” Jooheon asked, staring dully at Wonho.

 

“Doorbell please.” Wonho said.

 

“I’m going to be sick,” Jooheon muttered, pressing the small white button as he awaited for someone’s voice to answer.

 

Without any expectations, a male voice came through. It sounded tired and low, which was subtly charming to Jooheon. “Hello?”

 

“Ah, yes, hello?” Jooheon replied.

 

“What do you want?” The male asked in a polite tone.

 

“I know this is awkward for a stranger to say this, but may I speak to you about a guy named Wonho?”

 

“Wonho… please go away. Thank you.” The intercom cut off immediately after.

 

“I really don’t want us to do this, but I mean I guess.” Jooheon sighed, looking at Changkyun as if the fallen angel would understand what he was trying to say. After a little reconfiguring of the electrical current done by Changkyun, Jooheon was allowed access to the intercom again. “Look, I know there a lot of missing holes in this meeting, but I can prove to you that Wonho’s spirit is still here on earth, trying to get you to notice him. I’m not going to waste my time coming over here to not even get a full conversation.” Silence apparent in the other side, Jooheon was sure he was not going to get a reply if he was too forward in his message.

 

“Okay, I’ll let you in. I’m kicking you out and calling the authorities if you can’t prove what you’re saying otherwise.”

 

“Fair game.”

 

* * *

 

The male behind the intercom was nothing in the slightest of Jooheon’s imagination as he finally show who Wonho was so attached to. A handsome male with cotton candy pink hair and fair skin. It was a little flustering for Jooheon to be around someone attractive as that. “Excuse the intrusion,” Jooheon could not help himself to say as he sat on the leather couch in the living room.

 

“It’s okay. It’s been a while since I had a guest over,” Wonho’s friend subtly smiled, “oh, and my name is Kihyun.”

 

“Jooheon,” Jooheon extended his hand as he wanted to approach as friendly as possible to solve things smoothly. He was able to receive a firm handshake in return, and he could feel his confidence boosting in getting the task completed in a single day.

 

Wonho and Changkyun stood in the background as if they were only extras in a movie. Wonho’s heart was crying loudly that Changkyun had to hit the male to snap out of it. “Gosh, you’re too emotional.”

 

“Shut up, I’m not afraid to possess you or Jooheon again,” Wonho lamented, placing a hand over his mouth as he skillfully observed Kihyun’s movements.

 

“Ugh. Troublesome.”

 

Jooheon ignored the background noises that were not being subtle in their presence in any way. He focused on what he had to do. “Wonho told me before that he wanted to hear you sing again. Is there something related to that?”

 

Kihyun’s eyes widen as he was sitting still. “How did you know that I sing? Wow. No one has ever heard my voice sing except for—”

 

“Wonho.” Jooheon finished his sentence, knowing it was going to bring unnecessary pain if that name came out of Kihyun’s mouth. It was beginning to clear up to what was keeping Wonho stuck on earth to Jooheon. He also questioned why the bond between the two were not deep enough for Wonho to be seen by Kihyun, but there was probably more than meets the eye in their past.

 

“Where are my manners? I’ll serve us some tea,” Kihyun politely exited the room, not showing Jooheon the single tear that was escaping his left eye. However, Wonho saw it and broke his own heart over the scene.

 

Changkyun silently judged Wonho’s soul as it was progressing getting darker each time. It seemed that the situation was going to be troublesome in the future if matters did not solve itself soon. Spirits that were too consumed in their sorrow of their past life would eventually turn into a malicious spirit. It was a miracle that Wonho was stable for a while until this very moment. It was the end of the dam’s lifespan, and a vicious flood was inevitable. However, Changkyun was going to keep that to himself until the time called for it.

 

“Wonho, tell me anything that can help prove your existence,” Jooheon asked on the side, not too audibly to avoid being heard by Kihyun.

 

Wonho fixated his vision from the kitchen to Jooheon. He bowed his head in a quick apology. “I promised him before my death that he and I would do a duet together in front of a live audience.”

 

“Is that all?” Jooheon questioned, not able to comprehend why something so simple could be inhibiting Wonho from moving on to the next world. A whistling was high-pitch in the background, indicating that the water in the kettle was boiling. “You better spill everything now, Wonho.”

 

“Okay, okay,” Wonho was shying away from answering. “We were practicing one day together on harmonizing our voices, and he wanted a snack from the store, so I went out to get him one.” It was a short story, or at least he really hoped it was. There was always the unlucky people that were stuck with more to their story than necessary. “A robber encountered me on the way, and I was killed trying to fight back. Kihyun must think it was all his fault for my death.”

 

Jooheon could feel sadness coming into his heart as he heard Wonho’s story. It was always there, though. He figured it was something heavy because when Jooheon was possessed by Wonho, Jooheon was underneath a bottomless pit of dark waters that turned into blood and dragged him down into its depths endlessly. An oil stain that could not get out of his clothes, for it was stuck to him forever until he was finally able to throw away the precious clothing. “I think I can repeat that.”

 

“You know, I haven’t heard Wonho’s name in two whole years,” Kihyun walked back into the living room, setting down the piping hot tea on the coffee table. His composure a lot better after letting out in the kitchen. He served a cup for himself and Jooheon. The low and laid back voice held back a sorrow that was going to take flight and engulf Kihyun’s world if it was given a chance. “My last words to him were ‘be safe’ and look where that got him.”

 

Jooheon’s and Wonho’s heart ached at the stingy words. Jooheon directed his attention to Wonho and expressed gloomy eyes. Wonho shook his head in disagreement and glanced at his feet, covering his eyes with his blue-tipped bangs. Jooheon sat patiently, shaking his leg anxiously. “If I can prove to you that Wonho is here, would you believe me?”

 

Kihyun was offended at the set of words, and his disgusted face clearly showed that he was not ready to be confronted about the past. However, a closure was desperately needed for him to move on to take better chances of succeeding in life besides cowering in his home. “I prefer that you would leave my home soon.”

 

Wonho had to come up with ideas to convince Kihyun that Jooheon was trying to communicate for Wonho. He thought of something obvious that a total stranger cannot possibly guess upon first meeting each other. There was a slight hope beating in his cage of a heart, and he told Jooheon immediately, “Tell him, Jooheon. Tell him that the password on my phone was Kihyun’s birthday while his was my birthday.”

 

Jooheon nodded and was ready to fight for Wonho’s peace. “Okay, Kihyun, how about you let me convince you with one fact that only Wonho could know that no one else can.”

 

Intrigued but not any less pissed, Kihyun faltered and accepted the terms. “Okay, make it really good then.”

 

“Apparently, Wonho said to me that your phone’s password is his birthday and vice versa on Wonho’s phone.” Jooheon straightforwardly repeated what Wonho told.

 

Utterly speechless, Kihyun’s face was almost pale as his mind was snatched and thrown on the ground. He was not ready. He needed a moment to himself before collecting his leftover pieces of his mind. “Okay, that’s just really, really lucky. Give me another one.”

 

“Oh, I know one,” Wonho giggled at this fact, which should be something to really persuade Kihyun. He tiptoed pointlessly and whispered into Jooheon’s ears.

 

Jooheon almost wanted to laugh at the fact that he had to really control himself before speaking again. “He says that there was one time that you dyed your pubs to match your hair color. It was the color blo—”

 

“Okay! Thank you, I know that only Wonho knows that for sure. Let’s not get into that.” Kihyun embarrassedly covered Jooheon’s mouth with his hands. He was a little relieved to know there was a little humor in Wonho’s spirit still. “So, I guess he’s in this room, huh?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“What should I even do? I can’t even hear him, feel him, or see him.” Hopelessness beginning to grow all over Kihyun. The possibility of Wonho was there, but it was not the same if Kihyun could not sense him in any way possible. Honestly speaking, Kihyun would choose to not to pretend that Wonho was around because it would only hurt more to think that Wonho was saying the gracious words while Kihyun was deaf to it.

 

Well, there was an answer to a question that Jooheon was not prepared. He was not thinking he was going to get this far in the situation without having to continue it the next day. There was an appropriate amount of time to answer to someone’s question, and Jooheon was casually taking too long to respond. It would be awful if the story was misunderstood and communication would be damaged too deep between Wonho and Kihyun. Jooheon had to really choose what he wanted to do with caution. Sighing as usual, Jooheon looked Kihyun in the eye and asked, “How much do you want to hear his voice?”

 

“If I could, I would want to hear it all the time,” Kihyun smiled to his own comment.

 

“Wonho!” Jooheon called out, scaring the spirit and the fallen angel simultaneously. “You can possess my body this one time with my permission.”

 

Wonho did not hesitate to come over to Jooheon and entered the body casually. Jooheon shut his eyes before his consciousness disappeared from the world. It was all back to black… “Hi, Kihyun,” the timid voice came out that was definitively not Jooheon’s regular octave.

 

Kihyun was in major disbelief, pinching himself literally to check if reality was functioning around him. He knew that Jooheon was supposed to be Jooheon, but the voice and the body manners definitively belonged to Wonho. No prior knowledge on how to approach the matter, Kihyun could only show in his blurry eyes how long it yearned to have Wonho see those tears. “You idiot.”

 

“May I hug you?” Wonho asked, which was still awkward to ask since it was technically not his body.

 

No bothering to respond, Kihyun went up to embraced Jooheon, knowing Wonho would be able to at least feel Kihyun’s touch again. “I missed you. I missed you so much.” Kihyun’s words that were laced with mercury, poisoning Wonho swiftly and silently. It was a miracle to Kihyun to be able to connect with Wonho once more, and it was truly blissful. He would have to thank Jooheon later on for bringing Wonho back to him.

 

Time should have stayed still, but it was not going to act as friend nor an enemy to anyone. Kihyun pressed himself to Jooheon’s body, but he closed his eyes and imagined that it was Wonho’s physical body instead. It was truly comforting, and Kihyun was going to test his faith in the world around him if he was really interacting with Wonho. The time he shut himself in his room and fearfully lived his life to venture what was held behind his door. A shackle to his soul came undone, and he was being released back into the sky.

 

“You didn’t cause my death, Kihyun. I’ll forgive you even if you did. Please continue to sing for yourself. I free you from the chains that I unintentionally put on you. Live to your heart’s content.” Wonho’s speech was hitting Kihyun in every soft muscle in his body. It was light. Extremely light to Wonho as his body was fading from within Jooheon’s body. Wonho was slowly losing his control over, but it was not because Jooheon was fighting to be freed. The real reason was because Wonho was finally leaving the world and going to wherever the afterlife had for him. It was truthfully a good life where he lived as full as he could, and it was certainly an adventure to be by Kihyun’s side. The laughter, the tears, the smiles that they shared would live on within Wonho. With all his worries on Earth eased, he could move on without being held back…

 

Kihyun covered his mouth with his hand and sat down as he cried a little more. Was his heart always light as it was now? All the misfitted emotions in his heart left and happiness and confidence was filling it up instead. A light was flooding back into his world, and Kihyun was going to cherish every moment under the sun. He also noticed that Wonho was no longer in the room by the blank expression on Jooheon’s face. “Please watch over me, Wonho.” Kihyun prayed before Jooheon was able to realize that he was back in his own body.

 

Jooheon tilted his head. “Are you okay?”

 

“I think I am,” Kihyun silken words came through his tired but confident mouth, “I think I will be just fine.”

 

* * *

 

It was not long before Wonho’s passing when Kihyun took the newfound confidence and sang it to the world. Kihyun’s abilities brought him to meet a dependable manager that was going to set him for a contract and album. In the way that only Kihyun could do, he managed to make every song he wrote and sang about Wonho. However, he had to direct it towards a bigger audience if he wanted to make it in the music world, so he changed the pronouns to make it relatable. Although he knew who the lyrics were for, he was hoping that Wonho was reciprocating them back in harmony. Strangely it was not lonely the moment Kihyun moved out of his apartment to fulfill his music career.

 

Meanwhile Changkyun was bored out of his mind, again. He was lying close to Jooheon by the television trying to watch their idols together. Suddenly, Changkyun said, “You know Wonho went to Heaven and came back as Kihyun’s guardian angel?”

 

“What? No way. You’re lying to badmouth them.” Jooheon stopped paying attention to the show and furrowed his brows at the fallen angel. It was one thing to be labeled as a malicious entity, but it was another thing to be actually malicious.

 

“No, I am not!” Changkyun whined easily. “You may not see it, but I can. Before Kihyun left, I saw Wonho happily following him behind. With actual wings and stuff.”

 

“Wow, happy endings. It’s great, huh?” Jooheon was deeply moved by the story. At the same time, he was unsure why there was a crack inside of him chipping away at every step he took. If he traced it back to when he started feeling the odd emptiness, Jooheon would probably say it was during the event with Kihyun and Wonho. The two went through a lot, and they got their ending as joyful as a child getting his or her presents on Christmas morning. To Jooheon, he was the cynical child—there was no Santa to deliver kids and neither did he want any material gift that can be bought with money. There was something deeper than where the cut was that was giving Jooheon problems. It was something within himself.

  
As Jooheon was relaxing on another unproductive day off, Changkyun was ogling the human with a curious eye. Little by little, Changkyun was subconsciously linking himself to Jooheon and was actually in tune with every wild and uncontrolled emotion that Jooheon was hiding. It was not like Changkyun would tell him that if he was an angel, he would synchronize with all of Jooheon’s positive emotions. It was because Changkyun was the exact opposite that he understood that there was a growing pain within Jooheon that the human was avoiding at every waking moment. It had to be the time when Wonho possessed him that Jooheon swam deeper into the ugliness of his world. “Happy endings, huh?” Changkyun laughed, fading out his sound as his face went blank.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here y'all go. It's been a while since I updated. I had this chapter ready to go tbh, but I was crowded by a lot of different things in my personal life. I want everyone out there to know that you are wonderful and deserve to be loved by others and especially yourself. You can do whatever the hell it is you want as long as it falls under appropriate conduct. Please give yourself time to move on from toxic relationships (and family members if you can). Please continue to live life for yourself and not for the sake of others.
> 
> Thank you for keeping up this far, though! I am proud of everyone! Please give this chapter some love and my future works/chaps! I will give everyone a heads up that the upcoming chaps for this story will be 'different' in sense of plot direction and stuff. I really am making such an intricate piece of work.

“Please revert your hair color back to its normal color.” Jooheon complained to a lavender-haired Changkyun. It was far too strange to Jooheon that Changkyun was pulling it off, and he wanted to go back to not having odd thoughts. The kitchen was steaming in moisture as he was trying to prepare a curry to eat for dinner.

 

“Fine. I’m saying that I look good in it, though.” Changkyun returned his hair to the way it was before. However, he messed up still and made it a cappuccino-brown as opposed of the regular espresso-color. However, it did not seem that Jooheon minded the lighter shade, so Changkyun did not bother to finish the job. He looked over the pot to see how if the water was boiling enough.

 

“It’s really convenient to change your look as you please,” Jooheon stated, dicing a whole carrot and throwing it into a pot. Sighing, he gripped the knife carefully as he prepared to do the same to the next carrot. Knowing that Changkyun was doing nothing to help, he decided it was time to give the younger male something to aid with dinner. “Here, peel and cut these potatoes. I want these done soon or else all the vegetables wouldn’t be cook properly at the same time. No using any powers to help you, either.”

 

“Okay,” Changkyun replied politely. He was unbothered by the sudden addition to his list of responsibilities. A human proverb somewhere was something along the lines of ‘you eat what you cook.’ Although it served pointlessly to Changkyun, seeing as the entity did not find hunger or thirst to be a necessity. Then again, he would still complete his task and eat the food he helped prepare because it would be the polite thing to do. It was not killing Changkyun to eat food, anyway.

 

Minhyuk and Shownu warped into the living room and made themselves at home. “Whacha cooking?” Minhyuk was bound to ask, and the question scared Jooheon.

 

“You guys really don’t need to be here unless you guys are invited. It’s rude. You’re lucky my parents hasn’t come home yet.” Jooheon admonished the new angels. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to accept their presence because he was powerless to force them out in the end. He set an extra plate and utensils on the side for Minhyuk to use since he figured the curious male would be interested in food the most. Not bothering to get one for Shownu, but not because he was assuming it, but Changkyun whispered earlier that the other fallen angel preferred to not eat anything. 

 

As the unexpected dinner party rolled smoothly, Jooheon was seeing that his normal life was not exactly going to fit in the standards of society, but he was still able to have a warm dinner with people, or angels to be precise, that he could share his addictive smile and laugh. People that were not too bland with their way of life. In other words, he realized that his family was not something that he found to be interesting, and it depressed Jooheon to think that way. He loved them as equally as he did for the people that were around him. He passed a plate of kimchi around, smiling as if nothing was disturbing him. However, when did he ever find out that he loved the new family that he unintentionally created?

 

Where was this love coming from? What was bringing him to love these beings that were beyond the understanding of human perception? It was truly confusing at first, eating less of his meal and paying less attention to the topic of the discussion. Through the woods of uncertainty, a castle that was hidden behind an entanglement of branches. There, Jooheon understood where he was able to piece together the truth of his questions.  Lips opened as it spoke a name, “Changkyun.”

 

“Yes?” The fallen angel responded rather quickly. 

 

“Nothing. I think I’m full and not feeling well in the stomach. Can you please make sure these two don’t make any trouble before my parents come home?” Jooheon purposely lied, but knowing that a white lie was a lot different to depict on the spectrum. Left for ambiguity, Jooheon slipped out of the kitchen and went to his room to wrap himself in his blankets. Something awakened within him that he did not dare say its name. Cloudy thoughts already forming over his mind, and Jooheon was afraid that it was going to do nothing but rain for a while. Unwanted feelings accompanied with a label too specific that Jooheon wanted to cry and throw it away. “There is no such thing as a happy ending for people such as myself,” Jooheon muttered, using his feathery-stuffed pillow as a therapist. 

 

His heart skipped and skipped until it spread its wings and flew into the sky. Scared of what the future held, Jooheon picked up the gun and shot the poor heart out of clouds, letting it bleed out as he shamelessly put an end to it. Dictating where his effort and love would fall into, Jooheon made it under his rule that it would not fall under Changkyun’s control. There were too many tripwires waiting for him in that road. It would be putting his heart at a great risk for being damaged, and Jooheon was afraid that if it was going to hurt, it would hurt unlike anything he had felt before. Unwilling to be persuaded by his despondence, he wanted to be a ghost and remain invisible. Closing his eyes softly, thinking little to nothing, Jooheon brought the heated blanket closer to his face and breathed slowly—he was gone to somewhere far from reality.

 

Changkyun cleaned the dishes as he was tired that Minhyuk and Shownu were not leaving yet. For beings that were supposed to be enemies, they did not follow that general rule well. There was an earlier statement that Minhyuk pulled spontaneously when Jooheon left the room. It drew concern within him since Minhyuk was always informed about matters relating to angels. Shownu would usually punish Minhyuk or refute him if Minhyuk was pushing the limit of appropriate demeanor. However, Minhyuk managed to fit in the statement without getting any repercussions from it. It had to be something worthy to analyze.

 

Muttering the words that Minhyuk spoke, Changkyun recalled: “People. What living contradictions. They want to be alone, but they don’t want to bear their thoughts by themselves. Can’t they be a little more honest?”

 

Minhyuk and Shownu were holding hands as they left the apartment to give Jooheon and Changkyun space. Shownu had business to attend elsewhere, but it seemed like Minhyuk was going to be present for his daily life for the time being. It did not bother him too much because the angel’s persistence to be annoying was exceeded. As long as it kept Minhyuk quiet, Shownu would hold his hand and hug him tightly to keep that loud mouth shut.

 

Changkyun finished up the remaining dishes, giving himself a moment to himself to bask in his accomplishment. He did not need to be validated for his victory, but he wanted to give himself a pat on the back. Human life was truly a simple one, and it was filled with little enjoyments that would spice up the world around it. By coordinating his movements to something human, Changkyun was hoping that he could  _ become  _ human. It would be different to crave and satisfy human hunger in order to survive. Taking a literal shit, taking a piss, running around like madmen, lighting up sparklers on a certain day, kissing without any fundamental value to it, falling in love without worrying of Changkyun's soul falling apart—the mere thought of committing all of those actions brought an odd sort of joy to Changkyun. However, it disappointed him to know that Jooheon would not get to live calmly as before if Changkyun remained as the fallen angel that entered Jooheon's life. Life was but a dream, and Changkyun was debating if rowing the boat down the stream was really worth the trouble. Human life would be interesting if Changkyun was not who he was.

 

No longer wasting his time thinking of ideals, Changkyun teleported himself to Jooheon’s room. He read up on the Angel’s Notes to understand what Jooheon understood. He laughed at the way he wrote, but he smiled purely because Jooheon wrote exactly how he spoke. It was no different on paper to the point that Changkyun was able to imagine Jooheon’s voice speaking the individual lines on each page. There were new things that were written, but Changkyun wanted to have a good read, so he would purposely wait for there to be a lot written in it before it would be read.

 

Before getting deep into the journal, Changkyun sensed a faint sense of despair coming from Jooheon. Even though Jooheon was dreaming, Changkyun was able to anticipate that there was something wrong within the human’s head. Not feeling shameless as to what he was about to do, he closed his eyes and consciously connected his brainwave to Jooheon. The silence engraved its name all over the walls, the floors, and everything that resided within those spaces. Colors in the environment were becoming black, and the space around him was becoming infinite. Soon the blackness became light, and Changkyun found himself sitting upon a sandy beach. He would have to apologize later to Jooheon for invading the human’s dreams without permission.

 

He stood up and removed any debris that may have caught onto his clothes. Scanning the area, he was unsure as to where he was besides that there was no sound anywhere and that there were powerful waves crashing along the shore. He could tell even with the quietness that the crashing of the water was not soft. For a supposed happy place, the area shared a similar gray and dark blue, creating a convenient melancholic atmosphere. In a burst of volume, a voice echoed throughout the beach as if it were spoken through an intercom. “For now, I want  _ him _ , but will it be worth all the trouble? Will these feelings be satisfied if he found out? If I decided to seek them out?”

 

It was obviously Jooheon’s voice, but Changkyun was unable to locate where the male was hiding. The despondent words of indecision created too much tension within the fallen angel. He was beginning to find it as his sole purpose in Jooheon’s dream to solve the lurking darkness’ desire. There would be no mercy shown if Changkyun found out that there was someone trying to trespass the comfort zone that Jooheon was all in. The fallen angel would devote himself to cure Jooheon of whatever it was since it was within his power to do so. His selfishlessness would cost him internally, and eventually physically, but he never wanted to see the person that was taking ridiculously good care of him to fade into the ocean of despair.

 

In his endeavor to do as he stated, Changkyun circled himself a few times, trying to see if there was anything beyond the sand and waters. However, it was pointless. There was no end to any of the scenery, so Changkyun sat to contemplate about his next course of action. Suddenly, Jooheon’s voice roared through the silence again, “I don’t want to fall deep, but I’m sinking too far. This disgusting color… what emotion is it?”

 

Though it was ambiguous of what it was truly conveying, Changkyun had an idea and ran into the water. It splashed and trickled over his clothes, but nothing was wet as a result. It was a dream, so Changkyun was not questioning heavily the logic of how it worked. What was supposed to be imperative to Changkyun was finding Jooheon to see what was causing the hidden despair to slither freely in Jooheon’s heart. As he traveled deeper into the depths, he could see the color of the world lightly disappearing. “Happy endings aren’t real. It doesn’t matter to me. Little by little, I’ll understand the boundary between us.” Jooheon’s voice was roaring clearly still. 

 

It only drove Changkyun to get closer since it seemed like the voice was increasing in volume the deeper he swam to the bottom. It was not like Changkyun was scared for his sake, anyway. It was going to be for Jooheon and strictly that. Whether it meant more was up for debate in the future. “Hang on,” Changkyun muttered as he blindly plunged into darkness for his human friend.

 

“I can smile by his side. I can smile around everyone else. I can smile to myself. However, why am I not happy still?”

 

“Jooheon,” Changkyun sounded disappointed at the name. There was too much going on in the dream that was transitioning into something too negative. It was not going to be long before it became a nightmare while the stage was still setting up. A sudden undertow rushed and pushed Changkyun to a certain direction. Blinded, he could only hope that this was taking him somewhere close to Jooheon.

 

“Changkyun, I’m sorry that I can’t say this in reality, but, although not seen by me, I wish you happiness.” A violent shake was stirring the water and, like water in a drain, it swirled in a spiral of nothingness and somber eternity. It dropped Changkyun upon a flat surface and confused the fallen angel as to where he was suddenly taken to. He openly inspected his environment and took note that it was simple design of a room—no furniture and no colorful walls. It was an open-roof with an awfully deep shade of red that was close to black. In a corner opposite of where Changkyun was, Jooheon was huddling with himself.

 

“Jooheon,” Changkyun stood, wanting to approach the timid and lonely human.

 

“I don’t want to hear your voice!” Jooheon erupted with a scornful voice. Vines of thorns grown throughout the room and lashed out at Changkyun with an angered point. It did inflict damage to Changkyun, which was surprising to the unholy entity. Although, it was nothing too critical that he could not heal it. It was possible that Jooheon was not consciously aware that Changkyun was actually there.

 

Seeing as the spiky plants were not inching closer to impale Changkyun again. He attempted to speak with caution, “Hey, Joohe—”

 

“Shut the fuck up!” The thorns rammed deep into Changkyun’s body, and he was unable to stop the blood from coming out from his mouth as a flood. He was more surprised that the insides were not brimming with darkness. It must be because the dream that Jooheon was having was powerful enough to satisfy Changkyun’s corrupted soul.

 

Inevitably after being attacked by an onslaught of pricks, Changkyun was too entangled in them to possibly move a centimeter. Slight movements would only cause more skin to be slashed and torn by the sharpness of the needles. The worse part of the predicament that the non-human being  realized was that he was not only inhibited from moving, but he also not fulfilling his role as to be the supposed savior that he was building himself to. As much as he wanted to fill the role, he almost shedded a tear to the fact that he could only support Jooheon. The only real chosen person for this role for Jooheon’s story was only going to be strictly for Jooheon. The pessimism within him was cultivating as quick as an outbreak of a disease.

 

“My heart has been growing thorns, and I feel like an idiot each time I walk over them with bare feet. What kind of emotion would do this? Why can’t I just grow butterflies and flowers?” Jooheon spewed his negativity in his corner, which consequently increased the width of all the thorns in the room.

 

Changkyun was understanding the metaphors little by little. It may have been words, but they were words that were trapped inside of Jooheon. Every single one was something that locked itself away in Jooheon’s heart, never knowing what the truth would feel like with darkness covering it up. The state of matter was that Changkyun was absorbing the negativity nicely since the plants were embedded with Jooheon’s corrupted thoughts. If he was an angel, he would be battling to resist these prickly vines, but he was the exact opposite. He was a sponge to these things, and he could use them to his advantage.

 

Easily snapping every line that Jooheon was using to restrict him, Changkyun freed himself rather nonchalantly from the grasps of the thorns. His wounds healed faster than ever before, and it was a nice snack to have the negativity flow into him. The plants still attempted to lash and strike down Changkyun, but it was useless as they would burn upon contact. Changkyun sighed, moving closer to Jooheon with every step. “I think you’re overreacting to all of these thoughts. You can calmly tackle these things without putting yourself at the bottom of the ocean.”

 

“Stop it! You can’t get too close! Leave! I-I don’t want to lose you!” Jooheon shook his head as he began weeping. The room also vibrated violently as if it were in sync with Jooheon’s subconscious thoughts.

 

“If we have to put a label to this or not, I don’t mind as long as you are happy with your decision,” Changkyun retorted, smiling as the background burned to a crisp at his touch. The black and red that was supposed to be engulfing the room became a clear white. Invisible by sight but audible to the ears; there was the sound of the waves riding up the sands of the beach in a calm and gentle manner. The remaining of the corrupted room torn away in pieces of flakes as Changkyun carefully maneuvered his footing towards Jooheon.

 

“Cha… ugh, I can’t,” Jooheon was clearly miserable in his current state, rocking himself back and forth as he tried to find comfort in the motion. “Some sentences shouldn't be finished.”

 

“You can’t take back your words after you said them,” Changkyun was directly behind Jooheon, feeling less threatened that the room was a lot brighter than before. Not a single piece of the corruption and impurities in Jooheon’s ‘room’ was present. It was as if it cleared up its stuff and went on its way to move out.

 

Jooheon stopped rocking. He finally stood, nonchalantly turned, kept his head down, and knocked his forehead against Changkyun’s chest. “How am I supposed to say to you that I’m falling  _ in  _ love with you? How can I tell you that I love how kind, how generous you are? How can I even be  _ with  _ you? How do I get over you quickly to make things between us not awkward?”

 

Changkyun’s longanimity metamorphosed into a transparent issue, for the answer to Jooheon’s questions was actually a simple thing to reply to. He was certain that the smile on his face was as happy as he could ever be. He never thought that a human of all things, especially one that he was supposed to torture, would bring him legitimate joy and excitement. “You know that human proverb about how the truth will set you free? Why don’t you give it a try?”

 

“Okay,” Jooheon tried to wrap as much as of his arms around Changkyun. The familiar scent was fixated into his nose, and Jooheon was unable to stop himself from pushing his face deeper into Changkyun’s shirt. Through a muffled voice, “Please let me stay like this.”

 

“That’s alright to do,” Changkyun reciprocated the motion, placing his arms over Jooheon’s shoulders. “Let’s dream something nice, huh?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

* * *

 

Jooheon woke up the next morning with an aching headache. It was not like he was drinking anything alcoholic last night, so it was strange to have the small pain. All in all, Jooheon thought that he was doing just fine. The room seemed lighter than usual, and he was secretly excited about facing his day. He had a wonderful dream that somehow eliminated all the doubt and pressure in his heart. He was really free today.

 

The very first thing he needed to do was to search for his best friend that should have been sleeping next to him. No sign of the fallen angel anywhere, so Jooheon had a little time to think to himself. However, Jooheon was a little self-conscious about how his heart was exploding with feelings that needed to be said aloud to a particular being. With his confidence brimming, he organized how he was going to play out the situation in his head first. Jooheon had to be considerate about the many possibilities the plan could go. Although there were going to be a lot of negatives, there would be positives that would balance out the result. The only real determining factor in the outcome was how Jooheon decided to throw his cards in the middle of the table. 

 

Jooheon’s door opened, and he was pleasantly expecting Changkyun to be behind it, but it was his mother instead. “Hello,” his mother graciously greeted him. “Did you sleep well?”

 

“Yes, thank you for asking,” Jooheon politely answered, smiling as his mom walked up to kiss him on the forehead. He was supposed to be a grown man, but he did not care because he deeply loved his mother more than usual. It was like today was specifically overflowing with love.

 

“Go get ready, your shift will soon start. Don’t be late for dinner,” his mom would gently lecture him about his responsibilities. She giggled to see Jooheon’s dimples and pinched one before exiting the room to begin doing laundry. 

 

Jooheon was at the zenith of his youth, ready to adventure, party, and fall in love endlessly. He reminded himself of his teenage years, and the nostalgia followed shortly after the memories. He climbed out of bed and fixed his sheets and putting a few leftover clothes on the floor in his laundry basket. Grabbing his necessities for the shower, he headed off to the bathroom, and upon opening the door, he was greeted by a mysterious oak-haired fellow. “Greetings, I’m Hyungwon.” Not entirely fazed, Jooheon shut the door and began undressing regardless of the person sitting on the toilet seat. Completely ignoring the weirdo, Jooheon was almost down to his boxers before the man spoke again. “Please don’t remove your boxers in front of me.”

 

Jooheon shrugged to the suggestion, finally acknowledging the presence of another person in the bathroom. “Okay, get out of my bathroom so I can shower.”

 

“Aw, don’t be like that.” Hyungwon put out his bottom lip to look like he was pleading as the victim.

 

“You’re not human, huh?” Jooheon had to ask to simply know what he was dealing with.

 

“Clever human you are,” Hyungwon nodded, giving Jooheon a round of applause.

 

Looking at the clock on his phone, he was not going to lose precious time consulting with whatever the hell Hwungwon was. “So, angel, fallen angel, spirit? What is it? I really need to shower.”

 

“Fine. Fine. I’m  _ Death _ .” 

 

Halting all movement, Jooheon’s heart froze as he stood there, contemplating on how to avoid physical contact with the man. “Yeah, that’s a first.”

 

“I’m not like the worldwide Death, though. I just happened to be one of many workers in this field. This city happens to be my district,” Hyungwon explained the basic foundation of his position.

 

“Okay, well, that’s surprising to know. It would explain why Death would have an actual name and one of Korean origin to boot.”

 

“Yeah. It’s a hard life out here. Taking lives, filing paperwork for certain people, tracking all the humans in this city that needs to die. It’s terribly exhausting.”

 

It was oddly a pleasant and easy conversation to have with Death. Jooheon only barely realized that there had to be a reason why he was speaking to a great symbol of the afterlife. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Hyungwon carefully. “Then… why are you here?”

 

“You see, you’re a special case. You and that fallen angel of yours. Your existence is a real troublesome one, so I and the Community of Death declare the death-sentence of the fallen angel’s human named Jooheon.” Hyungwon smiled happily as he was ready to reach out his hand and touch Jooheon. It was all it would take to cut the bond that Jooheon had to this world.

 

Jooheon was backed up against the door as Hyungwon’s hand inched closer to physical contact. A box of light surrounded Hyungwon and trapped him into stasis. It did not take an idiot to figure out who was in charge of Jooheon’s rescue. “Thank you so much, Minhyuk. Holy shit,” Jooheon breathed once more. He grasped his chest, which was beating far too fast than usual. 

 

From the other side of the bathroom, Minhyuk responded. “No problem. For Death to come for you suddenly without any explanation would be considered disrupting the normal life of a human named Jooheon. God’s orders and all.”

 

“Can you take him out, though? I kinda wanted to shower and get ready to go to work,” Jooheon chatted with Minhyuk as if his life was not seriously about to end in the last few minutes.

 

“With pleasure.”

 

* * *

 

Jooheon was not any better throughout the day. His body may be there, standing at the front facing the cash register, but his mind was launchimg deep into the space. Changkyun was also missing the whole day, so Jooheon was getting gloomy at every passing minute. If he fiddled with the idea of a particular person too deeply, his mind would be better off inside of a trash can. He supposed to be a mature person at this point in his life, so it was tactless to be acting like he was a middle school student with unstable hormones.

 

Fixing the tag on his right breast, Jooheon yawned openly since he was not allowed to be seen on his phone anytime during his shift. If Changkyun was there, he could distract the camera’s feed while Jooheon took extra breaks here and there. “Where are you, Changkyun?” Jooheon sighed, rolling his eyes to the boredom and silence since he was adjusted to having someone by his side to talk to him.

 

Meanwhile in the outskirts of the city, Changkyun and Shownu were looking at Minhyuk as he presenting them Hyungwon. “This is Death of this city himself.” Minhyuk ostentatiously presented the trapped individual that he was happily showing off.

 

“He tried to kill Jooheon?” Changkyun was already glaring at the other male.

 

“Yeah, but I wasn’t there to hear their conversation.” Minhyuk confessed. 

 

The three of them were organizing a plan since there had to be something wrong in the Community of Death to send unwarranted sentences such as Hyungwon trying to eradicate Jooheon’s human life. Changkyun was trying in all of his endeavor to maintain the shape of his physical body because after the incident in Jooheon’s dreams, the intensity of the happiness from it was throwing Changkyun beyond the capability of his scale. Shownu and Minhyuk were actually suppressing the darkness within Changkyun from tearing the good-willed idiot apart. 

 

“Looks like someone is an awaiting disaster,” Hyungwon spoke in ease, surprising the three as they were certain that anything suspended in the box of light was supposed to be stuck in a form of stasis. Hyungwon touched the barrier and dispersed it in a split second. “We are Death. All things will lay to waste upon our hands. We are not allies of Heaven nor Hell, so it is within our right to snuff out those that are against the inevitable fate.”

 

“He seems serious,” Minhyuk expressed his concern, and it was not very common to find Minhyuk to be worried over anything.

 

“Fortunately, I happen to believe in civilized discussions about differences in order to work something out for both parties,” Hyungwon bowed and gestured out a hand. The three angels were reluctant to exchange handshakes. “Oh come on, you guys know that you guys won’t die simply by touching my hand. Beings higher than humans are special cases that require more work to take.”

 

“I know that,” Minhyuk broke the ice among his allies, “it’s just that none of us trust you.”

 

“Just tell us what you guys achieve with disposing of Jooheon,” Changkyun intervened to put his two cents in the matter.

 

“Understandable. I’ll answer your question,” Hyungwon clasped his hands together and rubbed it to keep it warm. “It’s fairly a simple conclusion. This thing that Jooheon and you are bringing is unprecedented. A fallen angel should  _ never  _ choose a man. The path ahead of you two is too unknown. Now Jooheon knows information about things he should never grasp. Secrecy is what bonds us all together, and we do intend to keep it up with whatever it takes.”

 

“Bastards,” Changkyun detested the logic behind it, but he could see that there was going to be a lot of controversy if word came out to society that there was a man that was regularly contacting things beyond the human plane of reality. Humans would react rather chaotic to that, and it could make Jooheon’s life a living hell in a flash. Due to that concern, Changkyun laid off from trying to end Hyungwon where he stood, and he listened to the conversation to see if there was more to look into.

 

“Humans are predictable. They lie and cheat to get what they want. They can’t hold secrets for long, and they’re dangerous to everything around them. Meaning themselves as well,” Hyungwon stated. He gestured his hands in a fancy motion that made it seem like he was telling a story through them. “You all should understand the potential threat this carries. It would disrupt the secret balance we have with manipulating human lives.”

 

Shownu was a little agitated, but he nodded his head because everything that Hyungwon was bringing up had a valid point. He wanted to argue and give a rhetoric that could defend their standpoint, but the cards in their hands would not equal up or be greater than the one that Hyungwon was holding. “So. Killing Jooheon. That’s the choice that’s logical to you all?”

 

“Basically,” Hyungwon commented, not bothering to dance around the bush. “If we kill Jooheon now, he can live his newlife wherever Heaven or Hell decides to do with him. At least his mouth will be shut by that point.”

 

“Jooheon has the right to live his life as a human for as long as he naturally can. We can’t just shorten it because we’re fucking scared of what the future holds,” Changkun retorted in anger, walking up to Hyungwon, clenching onto the helm of his shirt. Oddly, Changkyun did not fear what would happen next if he messed with death itself. It only mattered that there was something truly unfair happening to Jooheon that needed to be stopped.

 

“Ah, yes, we know that there would a reaction like this from you,” Hyungwon articulated, not bothered by the fact that he was being threatened. He calmly pressed his fingers around Changkyun’s hands and made the angry angel release his grip. “Predictable from someone that not only disobeyed a general law of order, but one that has also fallen in  _ love _ with the same human male that threatens our existence.”

 

Immediately striking at a nerve within Changkyun, the male was about to throw a fist Hyungwon when Shownu stopped him from behind. It was lucky that Shownu did so, for Changkyun was about to do something regrettable that would also cause more trouble than doing anything considered progressive. However, there was something unnerving Changkyun, so he had to ask, “How do you know what love is like?”

 

“You think that we don’t understand that concept well? You’re mistaken,” Hyungwon deadpanned. “You don’t think we have been watching what human love is like all these years they existed? Have you ever had to separate humans from their loved ones as part of the natural order of their lives? Death is not something love can avoid, but death is not something to be feared all the time.”

 

“He has a point,” Minhyuk hated to admit it aloud. He was not someone to disagree with something as logical as that. 

 

“I suppose,” Shownu agreed, but he was tightening his fist to idea of simply following what Hyungwon was saying. Death may have been inescapable for humans, but it did not mean that they could shorten a life simply because they wanted to. It was too baseless without being done in a proper conduct.

 

“There are things that we want to avoid, and you angels would benefit from it, too, if you followed our steed,” insisted Hyungwon. “I rather have us get along. It’s not like I’m the villain here.”

 

“I rather not with the likes of you,” Changkyun murmured, having a distasteful sensation in his mouth. 

 

Hyungwon was offended, placing his hand over his heart while quietly gasping to himself. “Now that was rather rude.”

 

“That’s common coming from him,” Shownu started scratching his forehead as he was reaching the limit to the pointless back-and-forth conversation. There needed to be a direction that would pull them forward instead of keeping them stuck in the same place. 

 

“It would be beneficial for Changkyun to start acting like a fallen angel rather than something that he is not,” Hyungwon lectured, “humans bring trouble half the time. You angels bring peace and misery to their lives respectively. Changkyun should understand that his body cannot take more than what it already has taken in.”

 

Changkyun was disturbed that someone he never met until now was able to comprehend the position that he was stuck in. It was too readable if someone like Hyungwon could call it out. However, his body was not reacting too badly since it seemed like Jooheon was out there suffering. It did bring concern to his mind, but he was subtly happy that his body would regain some stability in front of Hyungwon. Death was not something he wanted to look weak in front of. Even if he had to fight, gnaw, and growl his way to survive and protect Jooheon, he was willing to do so. He was close to breaking the conversation to enter a legitimate fight with Death, but Shownu sensed the bloodlust and stopped Changkyun.

 

Minhyuk teleported Changkyun to Jooheon’s side without a hesitation. “I think it was for the best for him. He was going to fight Mr. Death over here.”

 

“Yeah,” Shownu calmly retorted. “Don’t think we’ll let you follow him, though. We aren’t afraid to get our hands dirty.”

  
Hyungwon was piqued by the actions of the two angels. There was a difference in maturity and bravery in Shownu and Minhyuk that Hyungwon found to be present that was nowhere to be seen within Changkyun. He was not opposed to the idea of fighting the angels species as it was something that he was never able to do. It would be a good workout on his rusty bones, so he transformed his physical form as preparation to take measures against Shownu and Minhyuk. “You see,” Hyungwon began, burning away the semi-formal clothes that he had on to a long black silk robe. A hood covered his head, and he picked at his spine, ripping it straight out of his body to see that it was actually a weapon forged from the bones of his body. The spine held in Hyungwon’s right hand was longer than what it should be, but it was because he was manipulating the capabilities that it had. More bones combined together with the spine to form a sinister scythe. “I’m ready to do what it takes to achieve my goal that my community gave me. Standing in my way will not change my mission whatsoever.”


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, everyone! I have been having a lot writer's block recently since this story has been going through a lot of plot development and whatnot. I, in my whole entire fault, have been falling into other ships from different fandoms and really kinda want to write fanfics for those ships of mine. I am just overwhelming myself with a lot things instead of taking on something one at a time. Anywho, here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy it as far as you can. 
> 
> I also want to note that I am not very good on Korean dialect/honorifics and all that jazz. There is a reason why I avoid using oppa/hyung/noona/etc. I will attempt to learn it more often and possibly use it in future fics. So for the purpose of keeping the content the safe w/o going out of the way to change it too much, I will still avoid using it in this specific fic.

Jooheon gloomed over the counter as there was no one inside of store looking around. Without Changkyun around, it was far too lonely and dull to be working. He already organized the aisles, watched the security cameras for potential thieves, took his break to only have his mind drawing images of Changkyun, and prayed for the end of his shift to come faster. 

 

The hands of time really moved slower the more you paid attention to it.

 

At the mere thought of not spending another moment alone, Jooheon was about to sigh aloud when Changkyun appeared suddenly in the middle of the candy aisle. “Hi,” Changkyun muttered awkwardly. 

 

Standing blankly behind the cashier counter, Jooheon laughed and thought that he was simply going insane to be seeing a real Changkyun come from simply thinking about him. “I really need to take better care of myself. I should go home early and get proper rest,” said Jooheon, rubbing his temple.

 

“Are you going to just ignore?” Changkyun asked, tilting his head as if he were a puppy that was confused.

 

“An imaginative and real-life Changkyun is talking to me, ha, so I’ve finally hit my limit on how much I miss him,” Jooheon giggled to himself. Figuring he had nothing to lose talking to a supposed imposter or copy of Changkyun, Jooheon began ranting his inner feelings, “You know, I was going to confess to you today? I built my confidence, reassured myself, chickened out here and there, and finally was going to fuck it up and go for it. I was even approached by literally Death today! Bad omens trying to get to me, Changkyun.”

 

Happiness was surging within Changkyun that he could not care if his body cracked and broke down. Playing the act of being the hallucination a little more, he listened carefully to every meaningful word that Jooheon was spewing rapidly.

 

“I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what I believe in if I can’t be with you. I know I can’t have a place anywhere in Heaven if you’re not there. I’m falling so deep into this, which is scary as shit, but… I’ll be more than happy to fall anywhere if you’re the one to catch me at the bottom.” Jooheon lit the whole store with his beautiful, lovely, bright smile. 

 

If there were not flowers in Changkyun’s heart before, he was certain that there would be now. He pressed forward to close the distance between him and Jooheon. He inched all the way to Jooheon’s face and planted a soft kiss, shocking Jooheon that the touch was definitively physical and real. “Idiots these days, huh?” Changkyun could not help but tease the gullible human.

 

Immediately turning hot red, Jooheon did not care for his position of the store, for he wanted to get out quick. He wanted to fade into the light, never to come back to reality. Would it be possible for Changkyun to launch Jooheon into an active volcano? That would be marvelous. “I-I-I uh, totally, yeah, didn’t say anything too important there. I’m just going to breathe and go to my happy place,” stammering over his speech.

 

“Should have just told me that you wanted me,” Changkyun was beginning to tease the taller human.

 

“Changkyun, cameras now,” Jooheon commanded, not bothering to hide his flushed cheeks. 

 

“Aye, aye captain,” Changkyun turned the electric power to the cameras off, preventing them to be recorded. 

“I’m so fucking embarrassed. No, I’m  _ mortified _ . I can’t live anymore,” Jooheon sulked to the floor with his palpitating heart. He traced the line on a tile on the floor, distracting himself momentarily to avert the fact that he was caught in his tracks.

 

Changkyun laughed harder than he ever did, loving the moment that he was having with Jooheon to the maximum potential. He wiped away a tear as the bubbly feeling in his chest remained unchanged from the moment Jooheon was confessing. Speaking in the soft tone that Jooheon preferred him to use, “If it makes you feel better, I never have been this happy in my whole life. I know I should be happy torturing you or burning your soul, but I like how we are right now.”

 

A needed boost in his confidence came through, and it gave Jooheon the willpower to leave the cursed floor. As long as one was able to touch the floor, there was always going to be hope to pick himself or herself up. Jooheon was standing up, hiding his head within the collar of his t-shirt. He understood that he should face the problem straight on if he wanted a comprehensive solution. Opening his mouth, “I know what I said was embarrassing, but please consider my feelings with care.”

 

“I already know that, you fool,” Changkyun grunted, pulling the human’s head out from the shirt. Driving his own face to beckon Jooheon to venture forward, it was a dirty move for Changkyun to use since he knew that the human would simply fall for it. A warm forehead pressed against Changkyun’s head, and his lips were parted, wanting to taste the other male’s lips, granting a guarantee that Jooheon was addicted to Changkyun’s presence. “It hasn’t even been 24 hours, and I miss you a lot.”

 

“I feel the same way,” Jooheon cooed, licking his suddenly dry lips. His dimples appeared once Changkyun used his nose to rub against Jooheon’s. Invoking fluffy feelings within Jooheon, his chest fluttered like a butterfly and into the romantic red sky. A stringy fabric wrapped around Jooheon’s neck, tying him through its red path. 

 

“Let’s test these feelings then,” an unfamiliar voice spoke. An old lady walked in casually, grinning from ear to ear as she pushed her walker through the entrance. Her eyes barely managing to open as full as they were when she was young, and the wrinkles on her skin indicated an estimate of how long she lived.

 

Oddly, the sensor did not beep or made a sound to alarm Jooheon that a customer appeared. Changkyun directed his eyes towards the elderly woman before realizing that she was someone that he knew personally. He was about to alert Jooheon; “Joo—”

 

“Shut it!” the woman’s voice echoed repeatedly that obviously did not belong to someone that was supposed to be a senior citizen. In fact, her voice deepened far too low, and the room was progressively getting dim. All source of light was disappearing as her smile was the only thing stayed bright. “Humans always brought the best of the best when it came to results,” she lovingly spoke.

 

The unpredictable grandma sent her gaze to Jooheon; her petrifying eyes froze Jooheon immediately as they made contact with each other. He gasped before momentarily being unable to breathe or move. Jooheon was in a state of stasis once again. She nodded in satisfaction before sending her glare towards Changkyun. “What do you want, Satan?” Changkyun bluntly asked.

 

“Since this human has brought a lot of interesting cases since meeting you, I want to conduct a trial for the two of you.”

 

“I know I want to refuse, but I have no choice, huh?”

 

“Practically.”

 

“What is it then?”

 

Grandma Satan nodded to herself, smiling as something fascinating was about to occur. “I believe humans possess emotions that are far too powerful for them to comprehend at times, but it can bring the most  _ entertaining _ results no matter the outcome. Let’s see how far this bond developed between you two. Who knows how far you two will transcend?”

 

Staring pitifully at the state of Jooheon, Changkyun was reluctant to answer to Satan’s calling. “I’ll do it.” Changkyun understood to the full extent of his existence that God was real, and it was time for that supreme being to do something to help him and Jooheon. If anything, God should help Jooheon more than Changkyun. In his deepest, darkest part of his unstable heart, he wished… Jooheon to be happy.

 

* * *

 

 

Jooheon woke up in his bed as usual. He yawned, stretched, and then scratched his back. He got ready for work and proceeded to say his farewells to his parents as he was about to head out. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. Although halfway through the door, Jooheon stopped for a moment and thought to himself that he forgot to say goodbye to  _ someone _ . He remembered to say the dull words to his parents, but they were his only sense of a family. Strangely, there was still somebody out there that he forgot. Not focusing greatly on trivial matters, he shut the door and left to walk to work.

 

A void began to open widely within Jooheon, and it sucked up every positive and negative energy into dissatisfaction and depression. Day by day, Jooheon lived peacefully and buying a ton of sweets despite not finishing them in record time. He was not a huge fan of the sugary goodness, but he felt that it was necessary for him to buy a bag of Sour Patch or Skittles to munch on from time to time. The only wonder was left to wander in his mind on why he was fixated on the reasoning for the snacks. The daily, mundane routine proved to be pointless and never-ending. It crippled him to the point that he wanted to get out of town—move out, live somewhere far, drink tea under a cold rain, be aesthetic like the photosets that he would scroll through on his Tumblr feed. 

 

Anything that would help him get rid of the unnerving feeling that he was not living his life the way he wanted it to be. After enduring months of being stuck in the same routine that which was his life, he wanted something new and grand to serve as life experience. In fact, Jooheon gathered his courage and determination to help strive for a future that he wanted for himself.

 

He saved as much of his money that he collected from wages, family members on certain holidays, and sometimes on the street when no one would claim the lost cash. He accumulated plenty of money to get a plane ticket to San Diego and live there for a while. He convinced his parents to let him move so far from home only because they understood that Jooheon wanted to find a way to make a home for himself. They encouraged him to make a name for himself out there because they were supportive of his youth. 

 

It happened that the physical home was with his parents, but it was more of a hotel to Jooheon in his honest opinion. He needed a fresh adventure to interrupt his lifestyle. The perks, and a curse, of being young was being mindlessly reckless. 

 

* * *

 

It was not long before Jooheon found an affordable apartment in San Diego to move into. He unboxed and organized his small studio to work in his favor. He had enough money to last him for a month and a half, so he needed to find a job sometime soon. It was going to be considered home for the time being. There was something about San Diego that was telling him to go there. Although, he admitted that he would miss the way his mom would set the table up with a lot of side dishes and rice to spare as his dad joked about his co-workers. Memories that were free to roam his head as they pleased. Jooheon sighed over his exhaustion of his sudden change of life, but he could not help feel that he would be sighing  _ at  _ someone other than himself.

 

The culture shock was astonishing to Jooheon, but he was piqued by the difference and embraced it passionately. Once learning the way on how San Diego natives work, Jooheon adjusted himself into the society without an issue. The weather was nothing like his hometown since it stayed relatively warmer. He worried a little for his skin to be tanned, but he thoroughly came to accept the idea and released the fear of being dark back into the sea. Soon, Jooheon would spend his days trying to get a job in the crippling economy, but he kept his hope up to not be deterred right away. It would not be until a month after moving in that he was able to get a small job that paid decently to pay for his studio apartment rent.

 

Starting his life anew, Jooheon wondered why the void in his heart was not being filled by the sun of San Diego. He followed his desire to be here, but he found nothing to satisfy the numbed heart. The Korean male trusted that he was at the right destination. He deluded himself to think that he was homesick. It was a little lonely opening the door to see an austere room with little decorations placed around or the TV tuning on his mom’s favorite show. However, Jooheon was missing more than just his parents. For a boring life, Jooheon was missing it more than he should be. 

 

* * *

 

Six months living in San Diego changed Jooheon in a rather positive way. He was happy that he was in a new job that had a safer work environment than the last one. He was tired of the discrimination that he faced. His new co-workers appeared to be trustworthy for the time being, but he left his tabs on them open in case. He made a small group of friends that he met through the network of his co-workers. It was not like he liked any of them too much, though. They were fun if he was hanging out for a few hours, but the whole day would give Jooheon cardiac arrest. 

 

He was resting on his empty bed as he should be asleep already to be prepared for work in the morning. Jooheon bought a bike to help commute to places, but he would rely on the buses and trolleys that were rooted within the county. 

 

Jooheon was not going to lie to himself to say that he was not sexually active during his stay. He ventured a lot through his sexuality and found plenty of things that he found himself enjoying. He was certainly open to the idea of loving a man romantically and a woman as well. Jooheon would not have been as accepting to the concept of being committed to a male partner when he was living in his hometown, but San Diego gave him a lot of perspectives to wrap his mind around the matter.

 

He managed to somewhat plug his void with mindless, feelingless sex from time to time. It was only temporarily, truthfully speaking. Jooheon remembered the last woman that laid in his bed half-naked while he was barely waking up from a heavy night out with his friends. He was only shocked to find that there was a man on the other side of the woman, and Jooheon was sighing to what he had gotten himself into. However, from the back of man’s and woman’s head, their hair color matched to someone that Jooheon was desperately trying to remember. The strides of a light brown carelessly laying on the fluffy white pillow. 

 

Another time, Jooheon was hanging out with his small group of Korean friends, and they made fun of the fact that Jooheon’s sexual stories always had a man or woman named with the letter ‘C.’ Jooheon was minding his mouth to not shut them down, but he supposed that they were not lying either. There was Cynthia, and then there was Charles, and then there was Chen, and then there was Caesar, and then there was Chloe. It would go on and on, but Jooheon was finding that there was something important to do with that specific letter for him to be associating his sexual partners with it often.

 

The commitment was a personal topic to Jooheon, though. He never found anyone that he felt he could be considered falling in love with. If anything, Jooheon was cynical that such an ideal existed in this plane of reality. Considering that the odds of finding someone that could be worthy of being his soulmate were terribly slim, Jooheon would rather cut his losses and find love in a McDouble with pickles. From the friends that had their heart broken to the point of no return, Jooheon deducted that he was not going to risk putting his heart on the line.

 

Until a night with his friends led him to a concert that they forced him to come to. It was for a Korean singer that got famous enough to be touring through America. Jooheon was not exactly the definition of excited to be stuffed into a crowd as he tried to see the stage. Fortunately, his friends were hooked up with front row tickets, so Jooheon only had to tiptoe to view the stage clearly. Although it did not start yet, there were plenty of fangirls screaming for their life for the artist to come out.

 

“Who's performing tonight again?” Jooheon shouted into his friend’s ear, watching as she sat in her seat with the jitters.

 

“It’s Kihyun, duh!”

 

“Kihyun?” Jooheon was troubled over the name. It brought a lot of familiar memories, but he was not retrieving it correctly. The lights dimmed down to indicate the starting of the show. He hushed down to peer over the stage to see if there was anyone coming out. 

 

“Hello, everyone! Are you guys ready?” A bright fellow walked out with a microphone. His pink-hair distracted Jooheon as he was fluffing it a few times to act cute towards the audience. “I have a guest with me that is going to help me start off the show. Please give him some support!”

 

The audience rallied together with their obnoxious screaming, and Jooheon was doubting that he was going to come out of the stadium without suffering any hearing problems. His eyes suddenly caught the face of the guest that Kihyun spoke of, and the man that stepped onto that stage was beyond  _ beautiful _ . “Jesus,” Jooheon muttered to himself.

 

“Hello,” a shy man timidly took a step onto the stage, then he walked over to Kihyun’s side. Fixing his midnight-blue hair, he articulated, “I am I.M.”

 

Jooheon was embarrassed to be caught off-guard from someone’s physical beauty, but he could not help himself to be graced with something with holy. Hiding his lit phone from his friends, he immediately began searching all Google results for I.M. The disappointment was apparent when he discovered that I.M. did not appear in any of the popular searches. It only meant that I.M. was a new artist or person to be introduced in the world of music. Jooheon was about ready to enter whatever fandom I.M. was in.

 

As soon as the music began to start, Kihyun was clapping his hands together, bringing the crowd to sync their hands with his. Lifting the mic to his lips, Kihyun shut his eyes and sang the first round of lyrics. The song went on beautifully until I.M. pulled the mic to his mouth and released his voice. 

 

If there was a reason for Jooheon to exaggerate how much importance that voice sounded to him, Jooheon would like to say that his life depended on every breath I.M. took. There was definitively a powerful tone that added a layer who I.M. was as a performer. From somebody that acted shy at first to someone that was brimming with a robust attitude that also made him shine in his own way. “I.M.,” Jooheon practiced the pronunciation. 

 

Time lapsed quickly when Jooheon was occupied by the handsome rapper that was next to Kihyun. They finished about three songs before entering an intermission to put together a new setting. Jooheon’s friend pointed out the childish smile that was apparent on his face. “I told you that Kihyun was a great singer. He’s so cute, too!”

 

“Yeah, yeah” Jooheon responded with disinterest. “I think I enjoy the rapper more.”

 

“I suppose he’s decent as well.”

 

A hidden desire was hiding inside of Jooheon’s heart. It went along the lines of yearning for the rapper or simply getting an autograph. Although, I.M. held an aura that Jooheon was synchronizing to. It was as if they were connected to each other in some way. Jooheon must have lost his mind to think that a rapper like I.M. and a simple guy like Jooheon met each other before. Cynically speaking, there was no such thing as fate or predestined meetings. Jooheon was assured of that because there was no one in his life that impacted the mundane routine that it was cycling in. If there was such a thing as fate, then Jooheon might as well believe in angels and demons. Those silly thoughts were nothing but unexplainable things that did not belong in reality.

 

* * *

 

“Never again,” Jooheon uttered to himself, waiting in pain for a line that never practically moved. The fact that the meet-and-greet was a free feature as part of the event after the concert made it more difficult for Jooheon to ever  _ meet _ the singer. Kihyun popularity must have been on the rise for a while. The sheer amount of fans was beginning to overwhelm Jooheon. 

 

He was only really hoping to see Kihyun  _ and _ I.M. together. He was praying to at least get hold of I.M. in some way. 

 

An hour into the line before Jooheon was finally the next person to see Kihyun. He stepped confidently and flashed a toothy smile. “Hi, Kihyun.”

 

Kihyun went blank for a moment upon seeing Jooheon. A wide smile took over before the eyes widen as well. “My god. Jooheon!”

 

“Uh,” Jooheon was about to freak out. An actual celebrity was calling him out in public. It also meant this celebrity knew him. However, Jooheon was not recalling ever seeing Kihyun in his life, but the familiarity was certainly there. 

 

“It’s been so long since you helped me with my problem. I’m so happy you made it to my concert!” Kihyun was beginning to ramble, updating Jooheon on things that he was not fully aware of. 

 

“Yeah, uh, where’s that I.M. guy? He was really good,” Jooheon attempted to slip the main reason he was here. It was not like he wanted to know all the things that happened between him and Kihyun, but it was not a priority.

 

“Oh, him? Meet me backstage and tell the guards that I sent you. I’ll inform my people about you.” Kihyun began to hurry Jooheon off because there were other fans waiting for their turn to meet him. They were sending death glares at Jooheon, and Kihyun was afraid that the old friend was going to be caught in a predicament if he did not move out of the way soon.

 

“Okay, okay!” Jooheon shouted while security guards began pushing him towards the exit.

 

* * *

 

Through the hassle of almost being harassed by Kihyun’s security guards, Jooheon was able to pass because he mentioned his name. They deeply apologized for the inconvenience and gladly showed the way to Kihyun’s dressing room. Jooheon stepped inside to pleasantly find Kihyun laying on the couch along with I.M. It was the jackpot to be able to find the guy Jooheon was really looking for. The moment that they glanced at each other’s way made Jooheon evoke feelings that he never had before. 

 

“Hi,” Jooheon almost whispered, stepping closer to I.M. “I’m Jooheon.”

 

Kihyun took I.M.’s hand and brought it to Jooheon’s. “This is I.M. I hope you don’t mind that this sucker is a little shy at first.”

 

“Not at all,” Jooheon uttered, slowly neglecting that Kihyun was in the room. There was an undying will within Jooheon to befriend the rapper. The urge heightened as soon as I.M. smiled and backed away to go through his phone.

 

“Kihyun! We need you for a moment.” A bald man interrupted the meeting. Kihyun nodded and went along with the man.

 

“Keep I.M. company until I come back!”

 

“No problem.” Jooheon grinned, waiting for the door to shut. He casually took a seat next to I.M., but he cautiously hoped that he was not impeding the other man. It would be terrifying if the first meeting that Jooheon was allowed to have with I.M. was the last as well. There were certain things that could go on temporarily while other things could go on for eternity. 

 

I.M. was a little nervous to be stuck with a stranger, but he ignored it as he carelessly tapped at an app on his phone. He accidentally tapped the Sinful Confessions and Tips app. He remembered downloading a night before being stuck in the room with Jooheon. It was supposed to be a new app that acted as a medium for advice on topics that were dirty, sexy, wrong, and sometimes normal. I.M. peered at the tip of the day, and he read in his mind, “Always remember to give yourself time and space to forget someone. The painful memories will only be in the past. A new life is always ahead!”

 

I.M. could see the advice could serve someone good if he or she needed to move on from a toxic relationship. Feeling a little mischievous, he tapped the option that would let him confess something anonymously. Observing if Jooheon was staring at his phone screen, I.M. secretly typed:  _ My friend left me alone with a stranger. I’m still too shy to be talking to anyone rn. However, I suppose he’s sort of cute. Should I even try to have a conversation with him? _

 

The responses were empty for a solid minute. Notifications from the app began vibrating I.M.’s phone, and he peered over at his phone to see the type of people that responded to his confession and question. Of course, I.M. was not surprised to see that there were going to be a variety of answers, but he was not surprised of a few that appeared.

 

_ SinfulMasochist: If you want, you can. Just don’t push yourself to talk to him! If he sexually harasses you or makes you uncomfortable, call the police immediately. _

 

_ SpankMeHard: U can give him a shot! Who knows!? He mgt be real kinky in bed ;) No sex, no fun :P _

 

_ ChaChaSlideinMyDms: You should tell him you need a break. Go to sleep. Never message him again unless he agrees to take you out for food. Rob him, hoe. _

 

He was not sure how he was going to reply to any of them, but I.M. preferred not following most of their advice. It was a little wacky for some. At least the first one was decent in its reply, so I.M. supposed there was no harm in considering it. As a musician that would be on tour, I.M. would probably never meet the man again, so perhaps the idea of talking for a short while was not faulty. Gathering the little courage he had, I.M. mumbled, “Jooheon, was it?”

 

“Ah, yes!” Jooheon excitedly, despite not knowing why he was, retorted.

 

“Are you Korean too?” I.M. plainly asked.

 

“Yes, but we don’t need to have all the formalities. I’m okay talking like this.”

 

“Okay then,” I.M. was impressed that he was holding a conversation, but he was not someone to bring topics to the table as easily as others such as Kihyun could. What could he possibly say next? He typed up his situation to the public domain on the app again.  _ Help! I started talking to him, and he’s really friendly! Idk how to keep a conversation…  _

 

_ Lettuce: Ask about his hobbies, or if you are looking to get into his pants quickly, ask about his dick size. Talk dirty even. Leave him SHOOK. _

 

Giggling a little at the comment, I.M. shrugged as he figured that he could try to see how it would play out. “What are your hobbies, Jooheon?”

 

Jooheon pondered on it before answering. “I like to write about things here and there. Oddly, I’ve taken interest in angels and demons. They’re interesting things, but it’s a shame that they are simply text and not real physical beings.” 

 

I.M. nodded in agreement. “You’re right on that. I wonder what they would be like?”

 

“Fallen angels seem cool since they possess the same powers as an angel, but they use it for bad deeds instead,” Jooheon was informative about the matter, which surprised I.M. because it seemed a little weird to be having that trivia stored in the head for conversations. “I wished they had happier endings for them.”

 

“Happy endings, huh?” I.M. subconsciously answered. A spark ignited within him and reminded him of those exact words. He troubled himself over what he felt, but he ignored it to continue his conversation with Jooheon. A sense of familiarity was striking I.M., but he never could find the source. It was obviously his first time meeting Jooheon. That had to be that. Nothing else into it.

 

* * *

 

Because fate was an odd mistress, Jooheon was able to save I.M.’s number to his phone after their talk together. Jooheon nervously chose to not text immediately in hopes of not bothering the other man. It was at least until a week after the meeting that Jooheon decided it was a perfect time to text I.M.…at four in the morning during a sleepless night of anxiousness. It was not like he was expecting an answer at the unholy hours of the day, so Jooheon was going to attempt to sleep quickly after the message was sent. 

 

Buzzt. Buzzt. Jooheon was sure he heard it carefully in the darkness of his room. He checked his lock screen and was surprised to see that I.M. sent a reply. It was really happening. There was communication between them. 

 

_ I.M.: Hey! I barely got your message. I have a recording to do @7am. I wasn’t able to sleep good, anyway. _

_ Jooheon: Oh _

_ That’s okay! _

_ I was put in the same situation! I couldn’t sleep at ALL TT _

_ I.M.: Oh, that sucks :/  _

_ Jooheon: Yeah _

_ I.M.: Well, I looked into angels and all that stuff you were interested in. I actually found them to be fascinating too. _

_ Jooheon: OMG. RIGHT?  _

 

Jooheon was in disbelief that he left an impact on I.M. An actual rapper that was on the rise to popularity! He was going to be the secret friend that would become famous too if the world found out about how close he was to I.M. It was going to be a life of pitiful stardom. Much to his exaggeration, he supposed it would be nice to keep the fantasies to a whim. No point of making something blow out of proportion before it even started rising in the first place.

 

At one point in the conversation, Jooheon creeped himself out when I.M. told him that he liked having sweets from time to time to relieve stress. Jooheon answered by jokingly saying that he shared the same taste, and he would buy Sour Patch periodically to satisfy his cravings. I.M. responded in caps that he also enjoyed that specific brand, and he was really shocked that they would share that in common. Jooheon somehow felt that the brand was going to be loved by I.M. Not daunting on the matter too long, Jooheon laughed to himself and put the suspicion on a shelf. 

 

I.M. suggested that Jooheon should write a story about fallen angels and give them a happy ending, but Jooheon declined and mentioned that it would be unrealistic. I.M. also commented that the idea of fallen angels, demons, and angels was already unrealistic. However, Jooheon responded that there was a certain level of comprehension that people can possess, and it would be wise to not go down the complicated route. The discussion faded eventually like how the snow melted in the spring.

 

* * *

 

Perhaps the best thing to do when one had doubts was to think ‘fuck it’ and put everything on the line. It was exactly the mindset that Jooheon was having when he was casually waiting at a Starbucks for I.M. to appear. The only reason that Jooheon was agreeing to the meetup was because I.M. had a free day to chill and that he was really wanting to see a friend that was not famous. Jooheon may have or have not been offended by it, but he tossed it aside since I.M. would pay the whole day during their time together.

 

Drinking the mocha frappuccino that Jooheon bought with his own money, he slurped until he recognized I.M. from afar. It was not a well-made disguise if Jooheon honestly judged I.M. However, a face-mask, tinted glasses, and the hoodie was not a good choice to blend in the crowds of sunny California. Snickering to himself, Jooheon smirked as I.M. entered the store with everyone’s curious eye on him. “Oh god, please help him,” Jooheon shook his head, laughing as I.M. made his way to sit next to Jooheon.

 

The mask fumbled with I.M.’s lips and muffled his speech, “Joohhmph. Hmu seems well.”

 

“And you’re way too ostentatious to be in public,” Jooheon put his elbows on the table as his eyes pierced through the darkened glasses. “You would have been fine without the mask. Really.”

 

Proceeding to take his mask off, I.M. looked around to see if anyone noticed him yet. An old lady looked at him and smiled before returning to sipping her coffee. I.M. whispered to Jooheon, “I feel like I’ve been compromised.”

 

“Oh, shut up. You’re not that famous. Just order something or let’s get a move on to a new area,” Jooheon slapped I.M.’s arm, making the other man flinch and rub the struck spot.

 

“Aish, okay,” I.M. muttered, standing up to lead the way to the door. 

 

* * *

 

Never had I.M. met anyone that would order twenty tacos from Taco Bell and eat them all before leaving the restaurant. It was purely disgusting to witness a grown Korean man maul down the crunchy shells into oblivion. He had to confess that he was paying for every item that Jooheon enjoyed devouring, so I.M. could not get upset for the hungry display. He ordered a small Dr. Pepper and a 4-piece cinna-bites. It was all he really craved.

 

“I don’t know,” Jooheon attempted to speak with his mouth stuffed with the last of his taco, “how you can eat so little. It’s not good for you.”

 

“And yours was any healthier?” I.M. sassed, slightly lifting his eyebrows to the disbelief. 

 

“Oh, hush. Aren’t you younger than me? Just respect my words.”

 

“Uh, no, thank you. I rather just continue fighting you,” I.M. retorted, fixing the strings on his hoodie as he remained seated in the chair. He checked the time and saw that it was 12:05 pm. It was beginning to get closer to the end of their day. He would rather spend it doing something productive than eating and talking all day. 

 

Jooheon threw the remaining wrappers and other trash into the appropriate receptacles and walked back to his seat. He learned a lot about I.M. over the course of their friendship, and Jooheon was not going to admit that he found the man attractive in more ways than it would take to solve a Rubik's cube. I.M. took Jooheon’s hand and guided him out of Taco Bell, but Jooheon was a little lost where they were going to go.

 

The problem with being spontaneous was the fact that it never exactly went wrong or right when it would occur. It was bound to land on either side of the tossed coin. Jooheon was only hoping that it landed on the latter, or it would be nothing but a waste of their precious time together. A small course of electricity ran through I.M.’s fingers and penetrated through Jooheon’s skin. The spark ignited within Jooheon, and he was slowly getting images of someone being in his old room back in Korea. It was not his parents, but he was sure it was someone that he could recall as being close to him.

 

In I.M.’s car, he told his personal driver to take him and Jooheon to La Jolla to see the shores there. It was an hour drive, but I.M. was happy breathing the strong salt in the air when he got there. “I think this is would be one of the perfect scenes to have a dramatic breakup,” I.M. was losing himself in the waves that smashed against the hefty rocks. He stood upon a rock that was high and not too far from the waters. It was relaxing to settle himself into the cool environment.

 

“You’re too much,” Jooheon sighed, feeling something revive in him. He wanted to pinpoint what it was, but it was lost underneath the other memories. There was a lot of things that was being familiar to him as he spent more time with I.M., but it still was unclear as to why it remained that way.

 

“Jooheon!” A man yelled aloud. 

 

It caught Jooheon’s attention, but he saw that there was no one in sight. They were really the only people checking out the beach, so it would be weird to have his name called out like that. Actually, it would be weirder that someone knew Jooheon’s name instead. “Did you hear that?” Jooheon checked with I.M. to reassure that he was not losing his head.

 

“What?”

 

“My name. You didn’t hear my name just now?” Jooheon was examining his surroundings.

 

“Freaky, maybe it’s part of your imagination running wild,” I.M. casually joked. He received a punched to the arm by Jooheon for his demeanor. 

 

“I guess it’s nothing,” Jooheon sighed heavily, moving his face to the direction of the strong gust that was blowing by.

 

Far beyond the waters, there was a fight between two supernatural beings. It quietly took place and remained undisturbed by any human lifeform. Minhyuk was desperately trying to break through Jooheon, but he could see that the senses that Jooheon possessed to see the unseeable were severed by Satan as part of a test. He could tell that Changkyun must have made a deal of some sort to have him end up as a human with no recognition of his life with Jooheon. On the bright side, Changkyun’s soul remained as the same soul since the human body was only a shell to keep the real identity of Changkyun hidden. However, Minhyuk had his own problems to deal with as he fended off Shownu’s sword. “Are we really going to fight over this? Why can’t you let me intervene with Jooheon?”

 

“It is against the dark lord’s wishes,” Shownu responded, lunging his sword towards Minhyuk. “I won’t defile him.”

 

“What a puppet.” Minhyuk spat, crashing his blade against Shownu’s sword, holding his strength rather well against the fallen angel. It sickened Minhyuk’s heart that he had to face someone rather dear to him. An atrocity that can only bear heinous fruit if it continued to root into the soil. He wished there was a way to make Shownu see his way, but it was a selfish wish that was only convenient to Minhyuk. It was not considerate of what Shownu was feeling. Not paying attention too heavily to the battle, Minhyuk did not evade the incoming slash from Shownu and received a nasty wound on his cheek. Regenerating it swiftly, perhaps Minhyuk was going too soft on someone that he loved.

 

Shownu hid the slight remorse on his face when he saw the cut appeared on Minhyuk’s face. It was only a matter of delicate time before he would have to face Minhyuk seriously. He was afraid that there was nothing he could do against the fate that they both had due to their roles in their life. A peace should have been sought, but it remained hidden from sight as a war waged between the differing sides. “I’m not going to hold back, Minhyuk. If you do not back down, you’ll only end up seriously hurt,” Shownu warned, flapping his wide and sturdy black wings. Despite the heart telling him to quit while he can, he held back and fortified his resolve.

 

“Be quiet,” Minhyuk commanded, revealing Shownu the terrifying sight of his angelic wings. Although unorthodox, it did bring familiar cold feet to Shownu. Minhyuk could only hope that his wings were enough to scare Shownu and force him to back down. It was fate itself that Minhyuk was cursing with all of his essences because he would never want to go all out against somebody that was close to him. If the rate they were heading in remained the same speed, Minhyuk was afraid that it was going to inevitable to say goodbye to himself or Shownu.

 

* * *

 

Jooheon sat on the edge of a hotel bed as it continued to storm through the supposed sunny California. At least the drought was going to be mitigated. It would only help a little in the long-run, though. 

 

It sucked that he could not return to his home right away, but he saved up a few day offs to miss a day or two while the storm was raging. I.M. apologized to Jooheon that he was going to be stuck rooming with him. It was nothing to Jooheon since it was going to be similar to a sleepover. The room only ended up being a single-bedroom suite due to the hotel being packed as it was. He thoroughly checked the material of the blanket to see if it was to his liking, and I.M. was confused as to why the man would be picky about it.

 

Thinking of a way to bring it to the light, I.M. felt the same blanket and murmured, “Psft, it’s not bad.”

 

“Oh, shut up, I know what you’re doing,” Jooheon rolled his eyes as he stopped feeling the blanket. “I just happened to have standards for things.”

 

“Uh, huh, sure. So should we build a wall between us when we are ready to sleep?” I.M. asked, smirking to how the other man was going to answer.

 

“Ugh, I’m starting to hate the mentioning of walls since 2017 started, but still, no,” Jooheon confessed, lying flat upon the comfortable creamy-blue bed. Tempted to sigh, he held it back because he was afraid that there was not going to be a lot of happy moments in his life left.

 

I.M. smiled at the choice, proceeding to relax into the bed like Jooheon. The rapper put his phone down between him and Jooheon, breathing and inflating his stomach in slow motion. He dumbly stared at the ceiling, drawing ridiculous ideas in his head such as that he wished he could pull out the galaxies next to Jooheon. Although the view would have been outstanding and phenomenal, it would be beyond realistic, though. I.M. truthfully thought that despite being cynical, he found the universe in his head revolving around Jooheon limitlessly. It was no secret of Jooheon’s sexual history to I.M. since he asked if sex was really worth it. The genuine surprise that plastered on I.M.’s face when Jooheon told about every single lustful moment in vivid detail. It was too wrong that I.M. was tempted to confess all of his sins to a local priest and ask for forgiveness. 

 

“Uh,” I.M. forgot for a split moment where he put his phone. “Where did I put my phone?”

 

Before figuring out that it was still next to him, Jooheon and I.M. both reached for the phone with their fingers crossed between each other’s hands. “Here,” Jooheon mumbled, blushing and pulling his hand back shyly. 

 

“Thank you,” said I.M., turning his attention on the lamp on the nightstand next to the bed. Gripping his chest, a burning sensation was engraving itself upon his chest. It hurt as much as a hot candle wax dripping over his body. He did not eat anything that would cause a heartburn, so he was confused at the sudden pain. It calmed down after a minute elapsed, so I.M. did not overthink the situation. Thinking of a way to give him and Jooheon something to talk about, the rapper decided to choose Kihyun as a subject. “You know Kihyun dyed his hair recently to a light brown? I don’t know if you know about it yet.”

 

“Oh, really? He’s really handsome with pink hair, but I suppose he can pull any color, anyway,” Jooheon retorted, comfortably taking the subject well despite being embarrassed a moment ago. I.M. may not have been the choice of somebody that Jooheon would typically chase after, but he found I.M. to be the only exception. 

 

It was not long into the night before the conversation died, and I.M. was the first to fall asleep to the silence. Jooheon stayed awake because he was roaming the cracks and crevices of his brain to recall a memory that was hiding from his registration. He questioned why Kihyun was not somebody he remembered completely, but he was certain there was a Kihyun in his life somewhere. Actually, there  _ had  _ to be a Kihyun in his life because Kihyun remembered who Jooheon was from the start. It was obvious that there was a connection between them at some point.

 

Closing his eyes to head to sleep, Jooheon was disturbed by something in the room. It was as if there was someone staring at him in the darkness. He peeked through a narrowed vision and saw no one in the background. He should just go to sleep to make everything easier on himself. The bed bounced slightly as if someone got out of the bed. Jooheon checked to see again, and he noticed I.M. standing up and staring at his hands. “Uh, are you okay?” Jooheon was confused.

 

“Jooheon? Oh, hey! It’s me, Wonho.” I.M. casually spoke, lighting his flashy smile at Jooheon.

 

“Uh, I didn’t know your real name was Wonho,” Jooheon was not following the rapper on his delusions.

 

“Oh, you see, I po—” I.M. lost consciousness and fell to the floor, forcing Jooheon to jump off the bed to check on him. I.M. carefully blinked before realizing where he was  _ and _ how close Jooheon’s face was to his. “I, uh, hi?”

 

“Are you okay? Oh, my gosh, you just suddenly fell over,” Jooheon was examining the rapper’s body to see if there was any damage that he was not aware of.

 

“Um, yeah? Why wouldn’t I be okay, though? I went to sleep, didn’t I?” I.M. lost track of where Jooheon was trying to lead the conversation. He remained a little skeptical that he fell off the bed because there was no way he would let himself roll off like that. It would be too embarrassing to do so.

 

“Well, what about you saying your name was Wonho? I thought you mentioned that your stage name is actually your real name?” Jooheon was completely going crazy. He also made himself look crazy by talking about something that I.M. was not catching onto. The confusion on I.M.’s face was all Jooheon needed to assure himself that he should give up the matter and pretend the whole thing did not exist a moment ago.

 

“You should get some sleep. I think you’re tired out from today.”

 

Jooheon was a little bummed out that he was unable to prove himself right. He was sure that I.M. mentioned that his name was Wonho. There was no other logical explanation to it. Jooheon sighed and laid in bed, beginning to close his eyes and attempting to count the sheeps in his head. “Yeah. I guess I am.”

 

Outside of the washed window, Shownu was flying over the hotel that Jooheon was staying at, clamping at Wonho’s neck with no remorse. He angrily spat, “I’m not going to let you or Minhyuk intervene with Satan’s test with God. This is something that is beyond your comprehension, so you better back off before I really have to do something I don’t want to do to you.”

 

“Uh, I, wo-uldn’t be by Ki-Kihyun’s side if it weren’t for Jooheon and Changkyun! So I want to pay it back to them,” Wonho managed to say as the vice grip was beginning to cut off his airway.

 

“Bothersome,” Shownu retorted, unmoved by the heavy downpour that was going on.

 

“Let him go, Shownu,” Minhyuk held a serious posture as he glared at the fallen angel. “Our fight from earlier isn’t over yet.”

 

Shownu took note of the crimson hair that Minhyuk had. The change of color definitively expressed a masculine vibe, but Shownu was not going to back down because of something in the air. He was going to stand his ground and head straight into whatever storm Minhyuk prepared. Voluntarily releasing Wonho, Shownu agreed that things were changing in due time. It was similar to what humans experienced in their whole lifetime. Even now, the circumstances would change when it gets the chance to.

 

However, Wonho was not going to give the gratitude of a one-on-one to Shownu. He was ready to pull a sword out from the space where all angels could store their collective belongings, but Minhyuk flashed to his side for a second and whispered, “Don’t get in the way. It’s between him and me.”

 

Wonho saw that there was no need to interrupt the two, so he was about to head back into the hotel and set Jooheon and Changkyun together again. However, if there was a rose garden, there will always be thorns in the bush waiting for you. As Wonho turned around to face the building, another stranger was floating in front of Jooheon’s window. “Now who are you?” Wonho could roll his eyes into his brain after seeing the unexpected guest.

 

“Under a mutual agreement between the Community of Death, Satan, and even God, I am here to halt your advances,” Hyungwon bowed politely to Wonho. “Hyungwon, ready to engage the angel.”

 

“I don’t really fight,” Wonho could not believe his luck, and he was candidly not a fighter. He would like to avoid violence whenever necessary. Perhaps it was not going to be an event he could mitigate with words. Compromises of someone’s belief and morals would always be reached, and Wonho was considering this was going to be exactly that.

 

* * *

 

Four months elapsed before Jooheon could recognize how far he was into this friendship with I.M. He wished he could have more intimate moments, but he wished for something unrealistic since he, or I.M., was not going to suddenly change overnight. It would be delightful, nonetheless. Jooheon was casually waiting on his bed for I.M. to text him back when he entered San Diego again. The rapper was touring in the other side of the coast such as Boston and New York. All Jooheon would see on I.M.’s messages on SnapChat was the fact that it was freezing. 

 

I.M. managed to find an apartment to live in San Diego since he found the state to be comfortable to reside in. He also did not choose to live in San Diego because Jooheon was there. It was  _ not  _ the reason at all for him to decide that two months ago after he put in the down-payment. The touring was tiresome if he had to be blunt about it, and he was craving a break from stardom to be granted permission to go outside and breathe without his name being screamed out by the public. He did find peace in texting Jooheon during these times, so he supposed it was not all that bad. 

 

Meanwhile, Jooheon focused on something that his friends made note aloud about him that made the man question something important. Jooheon was considered to be the sexually experienced one in his small group of friends, but he was lately cutting back on his lustful journey. He gradually stopped meeting up with partners in general. Jooheon was not too aware of it, but he was craving being at home more often. He also wanted to be alone on the bed rather than have someone that he did not know too well to be laying next to him. All caught up in his mind that he was not paying attention to the door furiously screaming to be opened. Climbing out of Jooheon’s comfortable spot on the bed, he checked the door and was gently surprised by the person behind. “I.M.?” Jooheon whispered, unable to understand why the rapper was standing in front of him.

 

“Hey, surprise.” I.M. smiled and shoved in front of him two rented movies. “Wanna watch them together?”

 

“Uh, yeah. I’d love to watch it with you,” Jooheon giggled at the two DVDs and happily welcomed I.M. into his home. 

 

Despite how small Jooheon’s place was, he felt that with I.M. around that it was wide and had space to occupy a whole football stadium. Overall, it was a surprise that Jooheon was extremely grateful for. It was definitively cliché for I.M. to do what he did. It was not a teenage movie or a silly romance story being written by someone that was out of date. Jooheon could say that his life was a story written in the wrong way, but perhaps it would amount to something amazing in the end. Until then, he did not mind playing right into I.M.’s hands.

 

* * *

 

On the side next to the hotel that Jooheon stayed with I.M. at, Wonho woke up and figured that he lost the battle. He considered himself to be a hero to some sense because he did something to Changkyun while he was possessing him. He reconnected a few links that were missing in his soul. It may be a small deed, but he hoped that it would bloom into something wonderful wherever Changkyun was now. He laughed as he remembered how quick Shownu was to pull him out of Changkyun’s body.

 

Wonho was about to move when he noticed a scythe was lodged deep into his chest. He supposed the grim reaper guy must have wanted to leave a present from the fight. Through the luck of surviving the literal embodiment of death, Wonho was thrilled to see that he was not dead yet. After pulling out the weapon from his body and healing himself, Wonho stood up to prepare himself to leave the area. A muffled voice called out to him, “W-wait.”

 

“Huh?” Wonho turned to where the voice was. Not far away from where Wonho was lying, the grim reaper that he fought was there on the verge of losing his consciousness. “You’re  _ that _ guy.”

 

“S-shut up. T-that Minhyuk guy is too strong. I can’t feel my bones,” Hyungwon groaned, unable to speak in confidence.

 

“I don’t know, scary dude. You seem pretty fucking scary to me. I don’t think I want to help.”

 

“Y-you have to. Minhyuk is losing himself in this fight. That angel’s stability is starting to get loose.” 

 

“Stability?”

 

“Yes. He-he doesn’t look like he can control the dark emotions he has within him. I-it-it won’t be long before he demolishes himself.”

 

“And I should help you because…?”

 

Hyungwon rolled his eyes to how oblivious Wonho was to the perilous plight that was about to happen. “You think you have a chance of fighting off Minhyuk when he loses himself?”

 

“You got me there.” Said Wonho, picking up the grim reaper and bowing in an apologetic manner.

 

* * *

 

Jooheon was at his place as I.M. was comfortable scrolling through his Facebook feed on his phone. The floor was perfect and clean for I.M. to casually spread himself upon it. In an effort to appeal visually to I.M., Jooheon meticulously picked out outfits that would catch the other man’s attention. Jooheon would put on the cologne that made him smell tangy and sweet. He chose hairstyles that brought out the charismatic charm that he had, and he hoped that I.M. would compliment him. Jooheon found it ultimately pleasing when he did get I.M. to say something about Jooheon after he worked hard on himself.

 

“Jooheon, listen to this song. I’ll put it on max for you.” I.M. called out, playing London Bridge by Jhene Aiko and Big Sean on the floor. 

 

Jooheon was attempting to cook something for the two of them in the kitchen when the lyrics began rolling through the walls. The longer it played, then the more it began to impact Jooheon inside. It strung him up until he was caught in its web, waiting to be preyed upon. Helplessly falling to its lyrics, he was unsure why he was feeling the raw emotions embedded in its intonation. There was someone that he was missing, and there was not a single clue as to the person he was yearning for. 

 

Singing along to the song, I.M. was a little stressed about himself. He was happy nonetheless, but he had a strange sensation that Jooheon was feeling depressive. He did not see Jooheon’s face, but he could tell there was a frown on it. It was weird enough to freak I.M. about his confidence in Jooheon’s emotions. He called out, “Jooheon! Are you okay in there?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Joheoon plainly responded, wiping a tear from his cheek. “Just fine.”

 

“Lie,” I.M. whispered to himself.

 

Jooheon eventually finished dinner and brought out the food to the coffee table in the living room. It was nothing too fancy, but it was a stir fry vegetables with bits of diced chicken. Regardless, Jooheon and I.M. ate the contents wholeheartedly and cherished the moment together. Out of the blue, I.M. asked Jooheon, “Can I ask you a series of questions and see if I can guess if you lied on any of them?

“Um, sure, why not?” Jooheon chimed in on the idea.

 

“Would you ever have sex with Kihyun if you were given a chance to?” I.M. bravely asked, hiding the small spark of jealousy in his tone.

 

Jooheon was perplexed, but he answered, “Uh, no, I would not.” 

 

It was weird to I.M., but he could tell that the other man was not lying. It was the tall truth. However, it was not enough to satisfy I.M.’s accurate hunches, so he needed to complicate the questions. In a mischievous way, he decided he might as well ask the questions he always wanted to ask to Jooheon. “Do you find me attractive, Jooheon?” 

 

“Uh, well, I honestly have to say no,” Jooheon casually laughed at his nervousness, hoping for it to be believable.

 

I.M. nodded to the response, but he subconsciously knew the answer was a  _ lie _ . He had no proof of how he knew, but the matter of the whole thing was that he was certain that Jooheon found him attractive. It was as if the heart of Jooheon was openly yelling out loud that the words that came out of Jooheon’s mouth were wrong. He tried one more question to see if it was all lucky guesses. “If I got a girlfriend, you wouldn’t mind it, right?”

 

I.M. could not scientifically explain it, but he was assured that Jooheon’s heart stopped for a second before it beaten rapidly again. “No, not at all,” Jooheon lied with a poker face, but I.M. could see through it as if it were a window. 

 

“Jooheon, can I tell you something freaky then?” I.M. had to confess about his strange new power.

 

“Sh-Shoot,” Jooheon stuttered, collecting his cool again.

 

“I can tell when you lie. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just can,” I.M. straightforwardly mentioned. “Those last two questions before asking if I can tell you this, I knew that you lied on those.”

 

Jooheon always thought that he was somebody that would logically believe in something as long as it can be proven. He saw no proof on the table or anywhere, so he was strongly skeptical that I.M. was able to tell if somebody lied. Attempting to shrug it off, Jooheon responded, “I don’t know, I.M. It’s a bit much.”

 

“Go ahead and try me then!” I.M. provoked, puffing his chest.

 

“Okay,” Jooheon shrugged, seeing that it was harmless and irrational. He played along to I.M.’s little game. “I have only had three partners in my whole life that made me cum multiple times in one sex session.” 

 

I.M. swore his ears were going to bleed after, but he checked and there was nothing. There only was disappointment and regret in his ear drums upon the words that entered them. “Gross. And gross. Oddly, it’s true.”

 

“You’re… right?” Jooheon was profound that there was not any doubt in I.M.’s tone. “Uh, my first time ever having sex with a guy was with a white guy.”

 

“Not… entirely true?” I.M. was certain that there was more to it in a way. “The guy must have been mixed since it’s throwing me off.”

 

Jooheon was quiet for two seconds before realizing that he was supposed to be having a conversation with I.M. “You’re right. You’re fucking kidding me. Just one more to be sure.”

 

“Okay, what is it?”

 

Jooheon quickly threw his question, “I have never shat my pants within the whole year of 2016.”

 

I.M. smiled as he knew the answer to this despite not wanting to embarrass Jooheon. “You have actually.”

 

“Okay, maybe one time.”

 

“Nope. That’s a lie.”

 

“Okay, twice.”

 

“Still… a lie? I don’t think I want to know any more now.”

 

“Yeah, let’s stop now,” Jooheon got up and began to put the dishes into the sink as his cheeks were flushed. It made Jooheon worry about himself around I.M. because there was a huge risk of being exposed to things that he would normally hide. “Holy shit, I.M. You’re a walking lie detector.” 

 

“Hm, it’s almost like your heart is telling me when it lies and tells the truth,” I.M. deeply analyzed Jooheon, making the other man uncomfortable to be stationary. The rapper patiently stood by Jooheon, blankly staring into the smoothness of his cheeks. It never happened before to I.M., but he was uncovering secrets about himself that he was proud to explore. It would make his life enchanting if he can use his newfound powers for getting him ahead in life. 

 

Subconsciously under the radar, I.M. was reconnecting the parts of his soul that were severed. It was fixing itself through the course of time. The deep cut that was inflicted within would only be a scar and would finally stop bleeding. However, it was not stable and frail to anything that would stress it out too much. 

 

* * *

  
  


It would become a natural occurrence to Jooheon in his daily life whenever I.M. was talking to him that he would point out to Jooheon that he was lying. It happened frequently enough that Jooheon gave up lying altogether. He told the truth around I.M. and subconsciously to others as well. The case with being honest with people did not mean that Jooheon made his friends happy with telling them his candid thoughts. Recently, Jooheon was blunt honest to a friend of his that asked for his opinion on why he could not keep a relationship going. It would go to say that the friend was not thankful for anything that Jooheon stated. 

 

To counteract the honesty, Jooheon began to practice how well he could put a lie in front of I.M. The craziest lies never made it past I.M., but the little and simple ones that were mildly holding some truth to it were the ones that passed the test. It would start with something believable such as how was Jooheon’s day going to how Jooheon would never date anybody that was famous. When Jooheon mastered the technique, he was confidently talking to I.M.  _ and  _ his group of friends without worrying about getting in a conflict with anybody. 

 

His life would slowly return to normal from that point on. 

 

Well, he expected it to last longer than a week before I.M. began mentioning that he was having freaky dreams of Jooheon. Jooheon was sitting at a cafe restaurant with I.M. as he rambled on about how he was certain that in the dream that he was part of Jooheon’s life before in South Korea. It was a little odd to hear, but Jooheon left his ear for the rapper to vent the confusion and astonishment. What made Jooheon stay to listen to the rest of the story was that it was all convincing. “And I’m telling you, Jooheon, I was there in your old room staring at the ceiling with you as the galaxies suddenly started appearing,” I.M. disclosed, gesturing with his hands to add to the insanity of the story.

 

The waiter came by the table to check on the two of them. Jooheon greeted the woman and ordered, “Hello, can I get an iced Americano? Any size it can come in is fine with me. Thank you.” 

 

Once the woman left, I.M. continued his vent session, “I could remember climbing the top of this mountain thing with you. And, and, I remembered you working at the convenience store and buying me sweets. And I remembered kissing… you.”

 

Jooheon stood in place, lost in the fantasies of his mind and the cynical thoughts. He snapped out of it forcibly. He urged himself to stick to something realistic. It was all dreams, anyway. There was nothing to look too far into. “Wow, you have the craziest dreams lately,” said Jooheon, using his smile to give him a front for the pain that was embedded behind the shadow of his words.

 

I.M. sighed and scratched his head. He looked around to survey the people in the area, noticing that they paid no attention to their conversation. The rapper took Jooheon’s hands on the table and cupped them in his own hands, then he brought it to his forehead and murmured, “Please believe me. I can’t sleep well nowadays because of these dreams. I-I’m scared of what they mean.”

 

Jooheon’s heart bounced until it broke out of its cage, which was already loosened by I.M. earlier. It brought down the wall and brought raw emotions to cloud Jooheon’s mindset. Guiding his judgment as best as he can, Jooheon pulled his hands back from I.M.’s grip and stated, “I’m here for you. You know that. I’m just a little weirded out by all of this, so I need time to process all this.”

 

I.M. brightened the look on his face and bowed gratefully to Jooheon. He softly spoke, “Please take your time. I just want to feel at ease.”

 

There was a saying that one of the many ways a great fire could start was by a single spark, a single wisp in the gust. I.M. was kindling the change within him, and he was afraid that there was nothing left in his identity to be saved from it. Transforming the dreams to feelings, I.M. was deeply moved by his dream-self with dream-Jooheon. Picked up by the intake of new feelings, he could see himself falling in love with Jooheon without a hesitation. He sensed a great state of comfortableness towards Jooheon in his dreams, and he wished he could define it more, but there were too many things happening in his dreams that he could only interpret one at a time.

 

The waitress came back and settled down the small container that was Jooheon’s iced Americano. Jooheon immediately left money to pay for the drink while leaving a tip for the services the waitress provided. The caffeine did not help but stimulate more of Jooheon’s wild fantasies of I.M. Taking the chance to be brave, Jooheon asked, “How did the kiss feel? In your dreams, of course.”

 

I.M. was expecting any question besides  _ that _ one. He stammered over himself before he decided upon an answer, “I-I-I enjoyed it. It was-wasn’t bad at all. I know you have a lot of experience in that field more than me.”

 

“Okay,” Jooheon smirked, sticking his tongue out to tease the rapper a little. “Let’s try something out together when we are alone.” 

 

“Oh?” I.M.’s eyes widened, leaving his mouth at a silent ‘o’. 

 

* * *

 

Upon reaching the Jooheon’s house, I.M. took his time to take off his shoes by the door. His heart was racing, beating like it was an irritated bird in a cage. Jooheon, slumping comfortably into the couch, straightforwardly went in for the kill, “Do you want to kiss me to see if it helps bring meaning to your dreams?”

 

“Uh, what?” I.M. smiled as his eyes blankly stared at Jooheon innocently. He walked to the couch and sat next to his best friend, hoping that it was not some weird realistic dream that he was having. 

 

Gathering his courage and holding onto it with all of Jooheon’s might, he leaned into I.M.’s face, “Just push me and tell me ‘no’ if you don’t want me the way I want you.” Something possessed Jooheon to do something that he would never normally do, but he found himself letting his newfound confidence to guide him through the end of the dusty road; he was tired of driving and getting lost, anyway.

 

“Is it weird that I don’t oppose this?” I.M. retorted, tilting his head to let Jooheon do what he wanted to do, allowing Jooheon to access a part of I.M. that was simply uncharted. “One kiss, that’s it,” whispered I.M., closing the distance and shutting his eyes the moment physical contact was reached.

 

Jooheon took the lead, driving I.M. into the corner of the couch, trapping him like a mouse. He played into the kiss, rubbing the friction of their lips until it heated up, causing I.M.’s cheeks to burn like a candle. Jooheon’s sneaky lips traveled lower into the crevice of I.M.’s neck and planted lines of wet marks down to the collarbone. The sensation was feeling good; a little too good if Jooheon was being honest. He always craved to touch I.M. in a way that was more than friendly. Now that it was finally happening, he recklessly charged into the I.M.’s body. Jooheon added, “I won’t touch anything that you don’t want me to. I want to have your consent to touch you in your vulnerable places.”

 

“Uh, when you put it that way, I really want you to jerk me off,” I.M. commented, plunging his hands underneath Jooheon’s shirt to feel the abs that were subtly forming. He took a deep breath before Jooheon unbuckled his belt and unzipped the black ripped pants that he had on. “Go easy on me.”

 

“Don’t need me to tell me twice,” Jooheon smirked and giggled. He trusted that I.M. would let him know when he was uncomfortable, and Jooheon was going to let this go as far as it could go. To be able to see what I.M.’s dick looked like would bless Jooheon. Upon clinching the orange waistband of I.M.’s boxer briefs, Jooheon roughly pulled down the undergarments and revealed the hard-on. “C-can I kiss you as I jerk you off?”

 

“Yeah, you can,” I.M. looked away from his penis, afraid that he would back out with cold feet. It was within his right, anyway. However, he stuck it through because he honestly wanted Jooheon to touch him in ways that were unholy in its entire action. 

 

Jooheon began the kissing again, pulling I.M. too close to his own body. His soft and gentle hand wrapped around the entire length of I.M.’s cock. Every motion of friction that their lips made together, a stroke would follow up afterward. It ground the emotions of the rapper, causing him to slur the meaning of his words between lustful and innocent. Jooheon loved the rawness that I.M. was feeling, and he indulged in every moment that made the rapper moan to a good slow jerk. “Hey, can you jerk me off, too?” Jooheon politely asked between the interspaces of their lips. 

 

“Y-yeah,” I.M. cooed, following the same process that Jooheon did to his pants earlier. Once the penis was freed from its confinements, it smacked upon I.M.’s own erect phallus. He grabbed half of the length of Jooheon’s and his own together while the other man did the same. They synchronized their jerking motion as their dry and thirsty lips initiated another intense session. The precum that dripped from the slit of I.M. and Jooheon’s cock gave way to lubricate their hands as they continued to stroke together. Pushing up in one second, pulling down in another second, I.M. was feeling closer to his climax with every passing moment. He eventually had to use his free hand to pull up his shirt and give an opening for Jooheon and himself to cum safely on. The last thing I.M wanted to do after cumming was cleaning the couch afterward. “O-okay, I’m ready to,” huffed I.M., stomach being squeezed like how a lemon would be turned into lemonade.

 

“Me too. Me too,” Jooheon murmured back, exhaling in sporadic breaths upon I.M.’s delicate face. It was over—the line between ‘friends’ and ‘more than friends’ was being erased. There was a middle ground being created, and Jooheon was not certain he was going to lavishly accept the idea. One final stroke with their throbbing cock pressed against each other before they shot their spunk all over on I.M.’s lightly tanned stomach. Taking a minute to catch their breaths, Jooheon had to break the silence, “I’ll get you a few paper towels to clean this up.”

  
“Thank you,” added I.M., breathing stabilizing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave some love for this chapter if you can~ I appreciate all the people that comment/review the story! I also appreciate the simple kudos that are left behind. Please have a great day c:


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that has been reading this up to now! Please read the ending notes for explanations and stuff! Enjoy reading c: Also the chapter is pretty raw, so mind the grammar and stuff.

The relationship between them never returned to how it was before. Clearly, under the curtains from the public eye, the two ventured into Wonderland together with their naked bodies. Jooheon wished he could be more sensitive to the matter and not engage too heavily into sexual deeds with the innocent I.M., but he was not able to stop. 

 

It was not like he wanted to, either. 

 

Something inside of Jooheon told him to corrupt I.M. and drown him into the amazing world of lust that could be under the pretense of love. However, Jooheon wanted to be a morally correct person, so he attempted to keep his penis inside his pants and protect as much, if there is any left, of I.M.’s innocence as possible. Staying inside of Jooheon’s lane was difficult when all he wanted to do was make a left turn into the fast lane to I.M.

 

Jooheon was expecting I.M. to come over to his place in about ten minutes. He was not planning to let himself seem unappealing, so he began to brush his teeth at the speed of an Olympian runner. Turning the faucet on, he cupped the falling water and then gently massaged through the locks of his auburn brown hair. Dabbing a little of his cologne over his neck, Jooheon contemplated midway through his preparation if he was going the extra mile doing all of this. “Oh, fuck it,” shrugged Jooheon as he continued prepping himself.

 

Soon enough, the doorbell rang and signaled the arrival of the awaited guest. Jooheon stepped closer to the door, noticing the door was unlocking itself. He froze in terror as he realized that no one besides his landlord should have a copy of the house key. The chances of the owner visiting was unlikely, so Jooheon was certainly scared at who could possibly be behind his door. 

 

As if the wind was angry at Jooheon, it blew open his door wide, slightly pushing back Jooheon along the way. Jooheon covered his eyes and peeked subtly to see that no one was at the door. He checked left and right outside on the doormat to see that there was not a single person in sight. A chilly sensation shook his system, and he was unclear on how to properly react besides close the door and pretend he saw nothing. “I’m not going crazy. I’m not crazy,” Jooheon muttered, rubbing the non-existent bags on his eyes. 

 

The couch spontaneously flew and flipped over on its own, proceeding to shake the living soul out of Jooheon and devouring his whimpering heart. Something was happening inside of Jooheon’s house that was beyond the explanation of science; there was no way that a small passing wind was able to do that to the couch. A vibration inside of Jooheon’s pocket immediately surprised and made the anxious male scream out loud. Realizing how irrational he was becoming, he checked the text and noticed it was from I.M. He rushed to the door and opened it to see the most comforting face that he rely on to relax his rowdy spirit. “I.M., my place is fucking haunted,” stated Jooheon with a disturbed expression. It was not Jooheon’s pure intention to freak out his best friend, but he had to let it out.

 

I.M. looked into the kitchen to see that there were two strangers casually sword fighting as Jooheon did not pay any attention to it. He wanted to say something about it, but the two strangers looked at him and shook their head together. “To clarify, you didn’t invite anybody over, right?” I.M. asked, looking into Jooheon’s conflicted eyes.

 

“What? Hell no! I live alone!” Jooheon defensively stated, frowning as he had no time to be fooling around when there was a ghost of some sort haunting his place.

 

Making a mental note in his head that the two strangers in the background were miraculously unseen by Jooheon, I.M. nodded politely and told his best friend to wash his face over by the kitchen sink to easily bring what was in his mind in the open. I.M. witnessed as Jooheon turned and walked straight into the kitchen without acknowledging the fact that the two strangers stepped apart from each other to make room for Jooheon. When Jooheon returned to I.M.’s side, he seemed more calm and collected than before, but I.M. was about to lose his own mind over the fact that there were two guys quietly conversing in the background that Jooheon was unable to pick up on.

 

“Maybe I should just sleep over at your place. Yeah, I think that should be the best thing to do,” Jooheon began speaking, but I.M. was not paying attention because the guy with dark brown hair spontaneously pulled a sword out of literal nowhere and pointed it at the nose of the blond-haired guy. 

 

“Uh, ye, yeah! Sure, whatever you say,” I.M. dumbfoundedly replied, being dragged out of the place by Jooheon’s grip. He watched as the two strangers in the kitchen started to swing blades at each other. He must have been really overworked to be seeing hallucinations. 

 

Jooheon was far more peaceful at I.M.’s place, settling into the couch and loving the idea that it remained on the ground. He could only hope that the evil spirits that were haunting his place were not following him. He never believed in those ghost stories before and thought the supernatural was a giant pile of fabricated shit. Now, he was firmly trusting the credibility of those stories after experiencing it first-hand.

 

* * *

 

Jooheon had a rough week the following day. Monday, he was beyond hungry. He ate up most of his food in his fridge, and he went out of his way to go out for lunch to eat at buffets. Nothing was satisfying him like it used to, and he could not help himself but continuously want to end this suffering of dissatisfaction. 

 

Tuesday was a, well, a horny day. He kept I.M. home all day to help him deal with his sudden urge to suck, lick, and fuck the day away. He forgot what hunger was, but he was starving to get a taste of what I.M. had for him from his cock. It was until midnight that Jooheon was laying in bed with I.M. knocked out from all the sex. Jooheon did not want to admit that it was  _ too _ good, but he also could not understand why his sex drive skyrocketed into space. 

 

Wednesday was awful since he oddly wanted to keep his money to himself. He did not want to spend it on food if he could have someone bring him food for free, which meant I.M. was bringing food over, and the sudden obsession to keep I.M. at his home longer than usual. In fact, he almost did not  _ want _ I.M. to go home at all. He was selfishly keeping the things that he loved close to him and not wanting to share it with anyone. Jooheon felt no remorse that it weirded out I.M. as long as the rapper was by his side, then it mattered little to how I.M. felt.

 

The next day made Jooheon apologize deeply to I.M. through text about his sporadic mood swings. It was honestly out of control. He was hoping that Thursday would come to be a better day for him, but he was wrong. The whole day, he arrogantly thought he was better than everyone. He neglected his mistakes at work and put it on other people because he firmly believed that they were not happy that Jooheon was an incredible worker than them. It brought plenty of tension between him and his coworkers, which happened to be his friends as well, and they consequently avoided contact with Jooheon most of the day at work. Usually, they would get together to have dinner at least once a week, but they simultaneously decided among themselves that Jooheon would not be invited. 

 

Jooheon frowned the whole Friday because his pettiness and growing hatred for his coworkers were building up. He thought of ways for pay them back for not inviting him to dinner. It carried over to his interaction with I.M. when the rapper defeated Jooheon in a mobile game they were playing together. Jooheon purposely bought a lot of in-game credit and made his team unfairly strong against I.M.’s team, which were all using free items that can be earned through quests and item shops. Jooheon, with his team packed with exclusive items for players that paid for it, wrecked havoc among I.M.’s ranks. As much as Jooheon was supposed to feel bad, he actually felt amazing that he destroyed I.M.’s will to play the game. It served the rapper right for beating him the first time and bragging it in Jooheon’s face. I.M. really disliked how Jooheon was acting, so he left early and told Jooheon to not text him for the rest of the night.

 

His luck continued to fall when Saturday came around, not giving Jooheon a break of his outburst of negative emotions. He stayed at home and wallowed at the things he lacked in himself. It was this dissatisfaction at things that he did not have that other did have that made him a mess of self-depreciation. He hated that his friends on Instagram were enjoying going to fancy and expensive restaurants together. He strongly disliked how people were traveling to places that he never heard of. He was envious of other’s good looks, personalities, wealth, lovers, and more. All of which he did not need to feel bad for, but he felt every inch of this despair weighing on him.

 

Sunday was not, as I.M. always called, ‘a fun day.’ It anything  _ but  _  entertaining, to say the least. Jooheon slept into the afternoon, which was something he usually never did, but he was insanely tired today. When his body was rested enough, he lazily stayed in bed, not to even grab a bite for his stomach to digest or drink water for his dry throat. Hunger and dehydration were blocked out of his senses as his will to not move anywhere was overriding them. Jooheon refused to check the messages on his phone or scroll through his Tumblr feed. He was too lazy to do anything; all he wished he could do was to do nothing.

 

I.M. came over to check on Jooheon since he was not responding to any of his texts, and he was disappointed to see that his best friend was doing nothing but acting like he was a sloth. The rapper forced himself to get Jooheon out of bed, but it was a difficult task than it should be since Jooheon literally did not move a muscle. In all of I.M.’s opinion, he thought that Jooheon was similar to a dead body. Due to how nice and amazing I.M. was, he did everything that Jooheon was supposed to do like dishes, cooking, and even jerking off the other male. Secretly, he chose to not tell Jooheon that he could tell that Jooheon was feeling all these negative emotions, but he was subconsciously feeding off of it. It somehow gave him a lot of energy to do more activities as long as Jooheon was in a bad mood.

 

Jooheon returned to normal after exposing a variety of different sides of himself to the world. He started the new week with apologizing to everyone for what he had done, and he wished that he could get along again with everyone. Luckily, everyone could see that he was remorseful for his actions and allowed the mistakes he made to slide. However, he owed a lot of favors for people, which were not something he minded completely as long as they were within his capabilities. 

 

* * *

 

A strange occurrence at Jooheon’s house was happening frequently enough for him to count it as a problem. Black feathers were always found around the porch, but there was a connection to I.M. since it would usually appear after I.M. hung around. There was no explanation to help Jooheon understand the situation, but he stood back and thought that there should not be any black-feathered birds in the area. It did scare him, but it only did by the tiniest level of fear, which was enough to neglect and continue on about his life.

 

So the next time I.M. gave Jooheon a visit, Jooheon gave the rapper a thorough investigation, searching the man’s body shamelessly on the porch to check if his best friend was purposely leaving all these feathers around as an annoying prank. “What… are you doing?” I.M.mentioned as he was patted down from crotch to ass.

 

“Checking for feathers.”

 

It did not help add context to the random search, but I.M. shrugged as he figured it was something that was bothering Jooheon enough to do this. “Okay.”

 

After verifying that the musician was clean, Jooheon sighed, scratched his hair repeatedly, and pondered back and forth as to clear up his reasoning for doing the body search. Acting quickly, Jooheon was surprised to see I.M.’s finger placed on his lips as to tell that it was all fine to leave it as it was. He nodded and allowed the rapper into his home and proceeded with their plans to hang out.

 

As the door closed behind them, the same night-colored feathers slowly caressed the ground. I.M. sat on the couch and thought how funny Jooheon reacted when his place was trashed, which was most likely because of the two guys that were about to fight in his kitchen, and slept over at his place instead. I.M. thought a little about where those two were and what their intention was, but he had to bring himself back to reality when he caught Jooheon next to him rubbing his forehead back and forth, as if to relieve a massive headache. “Do you need anything?” I.M. checked up on his best friend, wandering over to place the back of his hand to check the temperature appropriately. “Hm. Doesn’t seem like you’re burning up.”

 

“Y-yeah, I just… have been under the weather or something,” Jooheon retorted, proceeding to the kitchen to take out the ice pack that he kept in the freezer, which would suited perfectly for these type of problems. He sat back down on the couch and laid with the pack on his forehead to mitigate the pain.

 

It was not in I.M.’s purest intention to be happy, but he could feel his inside transforming to goo as he somehow absorbed the pain that Jooheon felt. Subconsciously, I.M. desired Jooheon to feel deeper pain to the point that he would kneel over, face drenched with sweat and tears, begging the rapper to free him from his misery. The ominous thought sent shivers down I.M.’s spine, but he could feel regret pooling in his stomach. “I’m sure it’ll go away,” I.M. half-assed a smile, hiding the secret intentions in the back of his head. “I promise to take care of you.”

 

“I.M.,” Jooheon warmly grinned, whispering the innocent name from his angelic lips, beckoning the other man to lean close to his face, “I like you. No, I think I can actually, honestly, say that I  _ love  _ you.”

 

I.M. was overwhelmed with happiness, so much of it that it was swelling in his heart and ribs. Now that I.M. had the chance to think about it one more time, it was not beating only faster but was actually aching. It hammered, pounded, and roared inside of him like a rabid lion waiting to be freed. He bent down to his knees and began breathing harder. With shortness of breath, I.M. was blacking out really fast. 

 

Jooheon, worried that his friend was having a panic attack, got up from his position and examined I.M.’s condition. What was also convenient for the man was that his headache earlier was disappearing rather quickly. “I.M.! I.M.!” Shaking the rapper’s unconscious body on Jooheon’s living room floor.

 

Jooheon’s brain cranked out ideas and chose the safest route to handle the situation by looking for his phone to call the ambulance. Before he could search his pants pocket, I.M. woke up, eyes as black and empty as the bottom of the ocean, and powerfully clenched Jooheon’s throat. He picked up Jooheon without any problem and surprised him because Jooheon never remembered I.M. going to the gym that often. I.M. threw Jooheon straight across to the front door with his back crashing into the hard material. “Kneel, human,” I.M.’s voice echoed throughout his home, scaring the living shit out of Jooheon.

 

Jooheon was unsure of how to respond, but he was ready to run out the door. As soon as he made an inch of movement, I.M. pointed his finger towards the ceiling and forced Jooheon magically into the air until his hair was rubbing the said ceiling. “I-I.M.” Jooheon muttered, afraid of angering his best friend.

 

“I am not I.M., human, but do not fear. Your soul will be  _ mine _ ,” I.M. uttered, crushing his opened palm, which caused Jooheon’s throat to slowly squeeze together.

 

Through his gasps of life, he feared something that he never thought he could experience—the brink of death. Jooheon’s body was twitching to fight, but it was a hopeless struggle. His heart racing, afraid that it was not going to pump at any moment, and fingers scratching the wallpaper behind him. His skin’s pigmentation was being distorted and red, and then it went subtly purple. The brain was panicking to find a way out, but it was also beginning to shut down. His lips opened, moving his dried tongue to make room for his air pipes to release one last sound. Of every single one of the words he knew throughout his whole life, nothing was worthy for his last breath, but there happened to be one that he subconsciously knew. It was someone’s name, and it drew closer to the shore as his life was hanging on a spider’s thread. “Cha-ng-kyun,” Jooheon managed to muster his strength to say, not knowing what that name meant or to who it belonged to. He stopped struggling, and his body was freed from whatever was holding him in the air and plopped to the floor unconscious.

 

“Ah, so this is my despair,” I.M. whimpered, staring with watery eyes at Jooheon’s body, realizing the truth who he really was. He was never a rapper, nor a musician. He did not have a parents. He never had a life as human overall. He was a fallen angel, and his real name was Changkyun. He tortured and purposely hurt his best friend, his human, his lover. He was not willing to accept that he also almost killed Jooheon, too. He noticed that the life force that Jooheon had was fleeting, and Changkyun had an idea that he knew could fix the problem, but it also carried a lot of consequences. If there was something that he could right in Jooheon’s life, it would better be this exact moment. 

 

Praying, something that Changkyun found to be hilarious, he clasped his hands together and said, “Satan, God, please forgive me, for I have sinned.”

 

* * *

 

“Jooheon! Jooheon!” A kid was calling out his name. Jooheon opened his eyes and noticed that he was back in his parent’s house. He saw a little kid with black hair, a semi-large and nicely-shaped nose, and he also had a grumpy expression plastered over his face. The kid was by the door and ran off with the door closing behind him. “Follow me!”

 

“W-what?” Jooheon was not complying with how things were going. It certainly felt like he was alive and breathing. Strangely, his memory was all over the place and was unable to recall the most recent thing to him besides waking up. His room was deafening and was permeated with an aura that creeped him out. 

 

He slowly walked to the door where the kid ran off to and opened it to only be greeted with a flood of water consuming the room. Jooheon floated before everything was sinking into the blackness, and he could feel himself swirling and following where the current was taking him. Air bubbles violently escaped his mouth as his lungs tried to take in the water. He was going to drown to death! 

 

Suddenly, he washed up on the shore of La Jolla shores. The rocky sand scratched itself against his gently skin, and he flinched to the pain. First thing he did on the shore was throw up the large amount of water that accumulated inside of him. After feeling better, he got up and tried to walk up the stairs. With reality shifting, Jooheon had an incredibly hard time believing that he was actually in the scene he was stuck in. He cautiously looked around during his journey to the top of the staircase. The waters were thunderous as they crashed against the shore, and the seagulls were playing around with leftovers on the sand. “What the fuck is going on,” Jooheon could not help but say aloud.

 

“Over here!” The kid’s voice sounded a tad deeper, but it was not by a lot. Jooheon looked up to noticed that the now teenager was looking back at him from the top. Wanting to have his questions answered immediately, he ran up to the top to catch up to the teenager, and it only added to his dismay when he reached the top. 

 

“No way,” Jooheon uttered, analyzing how it was possible for his environment to change without a warning. He was no longer in California, but he was back in South Korea at the top of the mountain that he used to climb with… who? All he could recall was that there was a temple placed in the middle of the surrounding to let the visitors to pray to their gods to grant them some sort of wish. Or at least he believed that was what it was used for.

 

The teenager from before was standing over the fence that was supposed to keep people from jumping. He smiled and gestured with his hand to follow him. “You’re so slow, Joohoney.”

 

“Please don’t call me that,” Jooheon calmly retorted, walking over to where the strange teen was. When he arrived, he tried to grab onto the black-haired teenager’s hand. “Get down, or you’ll get hurt.” Without a warning, the kid fell backwards, forcing Jooheon to jump forward, a little  _ too  _ forward to attempt to catch the stranger. 

 

He fell alongside the only person he met in this distorted reality of the world. However, there was not a bottom. It was only black. Actually, it felt flat, like he already hit the surface and was able to get up. Noticing it was too cramped, he was only able to move forward and back with how his body was positioned like he was crawling beforehand. The ground collapsed spontaneously and Jooheon fell again. This time he was back at his workplace in the convenient store. The roof had a giant hole from where Jooheon fell. He looked around to look for anything out of place.

 

“Inside of here, Jooheon,” the teenager’s voice deepened again, and his body was taller than the last time Jooheon saw him. He entered inside where the juice section was and into the cooler area. 

 

Undoubtedly, Jooheon ran to follow the exact traces that the man left behind. His curiosity of how and why this man was vaguely familiar helped him stay strong to keep following this path. He ventured through the random brands of juice and other drinks before he got into what was supposed to be the cooler area, but it was another shift of reality. He crawled out from under his bed, the bed that was back in San Diego, and looked around his home. Hearing noise in the living room, he followed it and saw someone standing by his door. 

 

A very familiar figure turned and faced him. Jooheon’s eyes responded with tears, which he was unable to hold back or control for whatever reason it was. Memories flowed back into his head and revived his brain of everything that he went through and reminded him who made a giant impact on his life. His lips quivered, unsure if the name will come out right, but he mustered his courage and gave it a shot, “Changkyun.”

 

“Jooheon, choose your own fate.” Changkyun stated, holding his smile for Jooheon as the wallpapers begin to peel off.

 

“What?”

 

“This is an alternate reality that God and Satan created to test us. Through this door, you can go back to your rightful reality. Where you and I were at your part-time job back in South Korea,” Changkyun explained.

 

“I assume there is a choice if I decide to stay here. In this alternate reality.”

 

“Yeah, frankly, this reality falling apart, completing its task to God and Satan. We can literally dissolve into oblivion, nothingness, and blackness.”

 

“I—”

 

“I want you to choose for yourself. I’ll follow and support anything you choose, but you must know that there are consequences waiting for you in both realities.”

 

“One is easier than the other, obviously,” Jooheon chuckled, noticing the tears that escaped his eyes were fading away into nothing.  “We can disappear together here, never have to worry about another thing. In the other reality, we have a lot things to face, for yourself and I.”

 

“Uh, huh.”

 

“Let’s just go back to where we belong, to our original timeline,” Jooheon stated, casually walking up to hold Changkyun’s hand, taking note of the room disappearing before his eyes. “Not to live longer or anything, but for me to experience life for what it is. Whether it is overwhelmingly difficult or supremely easy, I just want to be able to experience it all.”

 

Changkyun tightened his grip and led Jooheon through the door. A blinding light engulfed the both of them as they leaned close to each other to have a final kiss. Their voices echoed through the oblivion and nothingness, bringing hope to the empty room.

 

“Are you scared, Jooheon?”

  
“No. I’ll be fine. I’m not afraid, Chungkyun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I left things to end in this manner, which I consider to be in its own way 'happy' because I realized as I was writing this giant clusterfuck of a story that this really has no end. This has a lot of holes overall, and it would be too hard for me to fill them all up, or at least most of them, to keep everyone satisfied. In all honesty, this could become a giant series of emotions, where there is the death of major characters (side characters too) and there is smut and there is romance and there is this and that and this and that, blah, blah, blah.
> 
> Idk how I could write all that in multiple chapters w/o feeling burned out and conflicted if the story is going with the flow, so I figured it would be best for me to lay things out in this sense, where Jooheon and Changkyun can go back to where I made things all wonky and vividly different and have their life resume from that point on. It could go rather badly or nicely, but I would prefer the latter in this case. By doing this, I can create an appropriate 'ending' where things can flow smoothly to how I perceive the story's direction. I hope everyone enjoyed this story, and I am sorry still for ending it all. I just have to (it's better than how I was before where I just leave a story on hiatus and never come back to finish it overall *coughcoughmycakefic). I hope everyone had a great time or attempted to while reading this story! Let's see you guys next time!! BYE BYE~

**Author's Note:**

> There ya go, I'm already working on the next few chapters, so I will hope that people can wait for the next or will be willing to read my work! I hope everyone has a great day/night and be safe out there. I love every one of you~


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